ECHR: Turkey Pays € 400,000 for Torture

The European Court of Human Rights sentenced Turkey to a total fine of € 400,000 in compensation. Six applicant sought justice for allegedly being tortured in police custody in 1997. The responsible police officers of the time had not been tried.

Erol Önderoğlu

The European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) convicted Turkey of torture in the case of six people who were arrested because of alleged connections to the Marxist Leninist Communist Party (MLKP) 13 years ago.

In 1997, a team from the Istanbul Anti-Terror Branch had arrested Arif Çelebi, Mukaddes Çelik, Sultan Arıkan (Seçik), Bayram Namaz, Sedat Şenoğlu and Necati Abay under charges of membership of an illegal organization.

ECHR: Turkish police tortured defendants

The six suspect had filed a criminal complaint with the policemen because of alleged beating and sleep depriviation in detention. They furthermore claimed attempts of rape, having their testicles twisted and being hung on the "Palestinian hanger" (being hoisted off the grounds with the arms tied around a pole). When the resonsible police officers got away without punishment, the six men applied to the ECHR.

On 6 April, the ECHR decided to sentence Turkey for the payment of € 31,200 (TL 65,500) in compensation to each of the applicants and anothter € 3,300 (TL 6,930) administrative costs for each application.

The ECHR stated a violation of article 3 of the European Convention of Human Rights on the prohibition of torture. (EÖ/VK)

Origin

BIA News Center

Erol Önderoğlu

[email protected]

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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.