Constitutional Court: One-person sit-in protest cannot disrupt public order

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The Constitutional Court has announced its ruling in the application of the teacher Nursel Tanrıverdi, who was given a monetary fine for attending the "I want my job back" protests in Bakırköy, İstanbul.

Tanrıverdi was fined 392 lira each in February and March 2020 for staging a sit-in protest. The top court ruled that her freedom of expression was violated.

"Interventions without a reason or with reasons that don't meet the criteria laid out by the Constitutional Court violate article 26 of the Constitution," said the court.

"She can't disrupt public order by sitting"

Tanrıverdi was fined for violating an event ban by the governor's office.

The ban order was given to "protect public order," but one person cannot disrupt public order by sitting alone in a square, it said.

"In the most general terms, there is a ban decision given by the administration for the purpose of protecting public order. However, it does not seem possible to talk about the dangers mentioned in the decision given by the administration may arise from one person staging a protest by sitting alone."

While the applicant's action might have exposed her to danger from third persons, it was not reasonably justified that her protest created a risk, the court concluded.

No intervention for three years

The protest had been continuing for over a year, and despite the allegation that it disrupted public order, there was no police intervention until 2017, the court noted.

While it might have been reasonable to fine the applicant for non-compliance with the authorities' orders, there was no intervention into the protest that she had staged countless times since 2017, it said.

"Ambiguous reasons"

Also mentioning the administrative court's approval of the fine, the Constitutional Court said it "failed to provide a sufficient and relevant justification related to the incident."

The top court ruled on July 4 that freedom of expression, which is guaranteed in article 26 of the Constitution, was violated, and a copy of the decision should be sent to the Bakırköy 7th Penal Judgeship of Peace for the elimination of the consequences of the violation.

What happened?

Nursel Tanrıverdi, who was dismissed as a teacher by Statutory Law No.686 on February 7, 2017, started a sit-in protest on February 20, 2017, in the Bakırköy Özgürlük Square.

The protest had continued uneventfully for 68 weeks until August 1, 2018, when the police began not allowing the teacher to stage a protest.

Tanrıverdi continued to stage a sit-in protest at 2 a.m. every Monday. She was fined 392 lira each for the protests on February 24, 2020, and March 2, 2020, as per article 32 of the Misdemeanor Law.

The fines were based on the Bakırköy District Governor's Office's event ban.

Tanrıverdi appealed against the fines, but the Bakırköy 7th Penal Judgeship of Peace found that it was appropriate, stating that written reports of the fines are valid unless proven otherwise.

Tanrıverdi filed an individual application with the Constitutional Court through her attorneys, Ferdi Yamar and Ramazan Demir. (AS/VK)