AYM Report: Arrest of Gül, Dündar Unlawful

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Constitutional Court (AYM) First Board has classified the individual application of Cumhuriyet daily’s Chief Editor Can Dündar and its Ankara Representative Erdem Gül as “qualitatively necessary to be decided by the General Assembly” and therefore referred the application to the General Assembly.  

CLICK - ERDEM GÜL, CAN DÜNDAR APPEAL TO CONSTITUTIONAL COURT

Gül and Dündar had been arrested on November 27, 2015 on charges of “providing confidential information of the state for political and military espionage”, “disclosing confidential information concerning the security of the state” and “propagandizing knowingly and willfully for the terrorist organization as a nonmember”.

Upon their objection against arrest being rejected, they had made an appeal to the Constitutional Court over “violation of freedom of press and speech and the right to security”.

Reporter: Violation of freedom of expression

In the report submitted to the board regarding the application, it has been argued that the decision had to confirm the violation of Gül and Erdem’s rights.

According to the state-run Anadolu News Agency (AA) , the report included following statements;

”That Gül and Dündar performed journalistic activities and besides their rights to freedom of press and expression, also their rights to liberty and security had been violated...

“That the decision should be referred to İstanbul 14th High Criminal Court to eliminate the consequences of the violation…”

In the report, it has also been asserted that “the arrests of Gül and Dündar were unlawful” and the justifications in the court’s decision demanding the continuation of the arrest were not “clear and sufficient”.

The President of the Constitutional Court will set the date

The Constitutional Court negotiated on the application today (February 17). The first board qualified the application as “qualitatively necessary to be decided by the General Assembly” and has withdrawn from the case. The application has been referred to the General Assembly.   

The General Assembly gathering with attendance of the 12 board members and the President of the Constitutional Court will decide on the application.

The agenda of the General Assembly is determined by the President of the Constitutional Court. The application of Gül and Dündar will be handled on a date set by President Zühtü Arslan. (AS/DG)