Turkey's "Separatism" Cases at ECHR

Next week, the European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) will consider the case of Mahmut Sakar and Vedat Cetin, former president and committee member of the Diyarbakir branch of the Human Rights Association (IHD) respectively.

Sakar and Cetin were put on trial for spreading "separatist propaganda" in 1997 after they had written a denunciation of the human rights violations in the Southeast of Turkey.

Their case will be heard on 20 September.

19 people's appeals

In another case, the editor of the "Yeni Gündem in 2000" newspaper, Erdal Tas, has appealed to Article 10 of the European Convention on Human Rights, concerned with the freedom of expression.

In his appeals, Tas, who lives in Switzerland, has claimed that his trials in Turkey had been unfair. He had been tried for "publishing PKK organisation statements", but says that his trials were a violation of Article 10.

The case of 16 other people will also be considered. They have been tried for "spreading separatist propaganda" and claim that their rights to defense were limited.

What is the ECHR?

The ECHR was founded in Strasbourg, France in 1959. It was founded by the member states of the European Council in order to determine violations of the 1950 European Convention on Human Rights.

Article 43 of the Convention says:

"For the consideration of each case brought before it the Court shall consist of a Chamber composed of seven judges. There shall sit as an 'ex officio' member of the Chamber the judge who is a national of any State party concerned, or, if there is none, a person of its choice who shall sit in the capacity of judge; the names of the other judges shall be chosen by lot by the President before the opening of the case." (EÖ/AG)