ECHR Decides in Karatepe and Ulusoy Cases

The European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) has decreed that Turkey did not limit the freedom of expression of former Kayseri mayor Sükrü Karatepe when it punished him for "inciting hatred and hostility" in several of his speeches.

Religious discrimination

On 9 October 1997, Karatepe had been sentenced to a year imprisonment and a fine by the Ankara State Security Court for "spreading hatred and hostility by pointing to differences in religion" in speeches made in October and November 1996. Karatepe was removed from his office in February 1998 and arrested on 24 April 1998.

Karatepe, a member of the Welfare Party (RP), was given a conditional release on 17 September 1998.

Legitimate punishment

While the ECHR acknowledged that the army members of the state security courts made fair trials less likely, and that this was incongruous with Article 6/1 of the European Convention on Human Rights, it found that Karatepe's punishment was not excessive, considering the aim of preventing the incitement to crime.

Voting six to one, the ECHR decreed that the sentence did not violate Article 10 of the Convention on Human Rights and denied Karatepe the right to compensation. It charged the former mayor with paying 500 Euros court expenses.

Ulusoy's punishment not legitimate

The ECHR also considered the case of journalist Ziya Ulusoy, where it came to a different conclusion. The court decreed that Turkey had violated his right to freedom of expression and that the trial had been unfair.

Ulusoy had been sentenced to 16 months imprisonment in April 1997 for an article about the Sivas massacre, where 37 Alevi intellectuals died in a hotel that had been set on fire in 1993.

The ECHR decreed that Ulusoy's right to freedom of expression had been limited without foundation and in a matter unfitting for a democratic society.

Because Ulusoy had not specified an amount, the ECHR did not call for a payment of compensation. It announced that, according to the Convention's policies on cases heard by courts that were not neutral or independent, the file would be reconsidered if Ulusoy should demand compensation.

Criticism of state and security forces

Ulusoy hat been convicted for criticizing the state's and the security forces' indifference to the murder of the 37 people in the fire at the Madimak Hotel in Sivas in 1993, as well as for criticizing the state's policies for the Kurdish issue.

Turkey had interpreted Ulusoy's use of the term "Kurdistan" for one part of Turkish territory and the term "National Liberation Movement" as "separatist propaganda".

The ECHR argued that this evaluation did not legitimize the punishment that Ulusoy was given. Because the article did not call for armed resistance or rebellion and did not contain any discourses of hatred, the punishment was found excessive. (EÖ/EÜ/AG)