ECHR Taking Up Baskaya Case

The European Court is to sit October 3 to evaluate the application of Turkish writer Fikret Baskaya who was sentenced to prison on charges of separatism for an article in the, Ozgur Bakis newspaper. Author charges his freedom of expression and right to

Erol Önderoğlu

The European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) will on October 3 Tuesday sit to evaluate the application of Turkish writer Fikret Baskaya who charges that in a 2000 trial and sentence to prison in Turkey his freedom of expression and fair trial rights were violated.

An author for the Ozgur Bakis [Free View] newspaper which later dissolved under continuous pressure, Baskaya was found guilty for separatist propaganda on grounds of an article he wrote for the journal in 1999. His application is based on articles 10 and 6/1 of the European Convention on Human Rights.

Several years after Baskaya was sentenced, the renown State Security Courts which often harbored military officers on the bench and one of which passed his verdict, were abolished. They were replaced, instead by the Specialized High Criminal Courts.

Article 8 of the Anti-Terror Law regulating the offence of separatist propaganda was, meanwhile, abolished under the scope of the European Union reforms. (EO/II/YE)

Origin

BÄ°A News Center

Erol Önderoğlu

[email protected]

all articles of the author

A graduate of the French Language and Literature Department at İstanbul University. He has served as the Turkey representative for the international organization Reporters Without...

A graduate of the French Language and Literature Department at İstanbul University. He has served as the Turkey representative for the international organization Reporters Without Borders (RSF), where he began as a reporter in 1996. Since 1999, he has worked at bianet, a project of the IPS Communication Foundation, as the coordinator of the Legal Support Desk, editor for freedom of expression, and editor-in-chief. He has authored more than 4,800 signed news articles and opinion pieces. He has also written for Bizim Gazete and the journal Güncel Hukuk. He currently prepares the Media Monitoring Reports at bianet.