ECtHR Ruling: Turkey Violated Six Articles in One Case

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The European Court of Human Rights (ECtHR) has concluded the case of Ruşen Bayar, who applied because of "violation of the right to a fair trial."

The court convicted Turkey for numerous charges including "violation of the right to a fair trial" and "length of detention."

Holding that Turkey violated six articles of the European Convention of Human Rights (ECHR), the court ruled that the state shall pay a compensation of 5,300 EUR and the court costs.

Life sentence after five years of trial

Ruşen Bayar, now 47, was arrested in November 2003 on the charge of "being a member of the Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK)."

In his trial, the indictment alleged him with "involvement in opening fire on a police vehicle during a demonstration; involvement in a demonstration where six police officers had been wounded by gunfire; membership of a terrorist organization; killing one person; and collecting money on behalf of a terrorist organization through coercion."

On 17 March 2004, the Istanbul State Security Court held its first hearing where the applicant denied all the charges against him, as well as his police statement. He maintained that at the Istanbul police headquarters he had been forced to sign a self-incriminating statement prepared by the police officers, the ECtHR judgment noted.

On February 13, 2009, the court convicted Bayar of all the charges in the indictment. He was sentenced to life imprisonment.

Bayar was held arrested for five years during the trial. The ECtHR verdict also noted that all of his objections to his arrest were rejected by the court.

What did Bayar claim?

After the Supreme Court of Appeals upheld his sentence in April 2010, Bayar applied to the ECtHR. He made the following allegations:

• His rights to freedom and security was violated by long detention, relying on the Article 5/3 of the convention.
• The proceedings reviewing his pre-trial detention had not complied with the requirements of Article 5/4, which says, "Everyone who is deprived of his liberty by arrest or detention shall be entitled to take proceedings by which the lawfulness of his detention shall be decided speedily by a court and his release ordered if the detention is not lawful."
• The absence of a compensatory remedy in domestic law violates Article 5/5.
• The length of the proceedings had been incompatible with the "reasonable time" requirement, laid down in Article 6/1 of the Convention.
• He had been denied legal assistance when making statements to the police, the public prosecutor and the investigating judge, upon Article 6/3.
• Under Article 13 of the Convention, there was no effective remedy under Turkish law whereby he could have contested the length of the proceedings brought against him.
• The Istanbul State Security Court had refused to summon S.N., a person who had testified about the killing of M.Y. in different criminal proceedings before the same court.

Turkey violated six articles of ECHR

The ECtHR stated that Turkey violated the following six articles of the convention:

Article 5/3: "Everyone arrested or detained in accordance with the provisions of paragraph 1 (c) of this Article shall be ... entitled to trial within a reasonable time or to release pending trial. Release may be conditioned by guarantees to appear for trial."

Article 5/4: "Everyone who is deprived of his liberty by arrest or detention shall be entitled to take proceedings by which the lawfulness of his detention shall be decided speedily by a court and his release ordered if the detention is not lawful."

Article 5/5: "Everyone who has been the victim of arrest or detention in contravention of the provisions of this Article shall have an enforceable right to compensation."

Article 6/1: "In the determination of ... any criminal charge against him, everyone is entitled to a ... hearing within a reasonable time by a tribunal ..."

Article 6/3-c: "Everyone charged with a criminal offence has the right to defend himself in person or through legal assistance of his own choosing or, if he has not sufficient means to pay for legal assistance, to be given it free when the interests of justice so require."

Article 13: "Everyone whose rights and freedoms as set forth in the Convention are violated shall have an effective remedy before a national authority..."

The state will pay Bayar 5,300 EUR in respect of non-pecuniary compensation and 2,309 EUR in respect of costs and expenses according to the ruling.

(AS/VK)