ECHR court fines Turkey in wiretapping case during Ergenekon probe

June 7, 2016 By administrator

The European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) has fined Turkey 7,500 euros for violating privacy through telephone wiretaps in disciplinary proceedings against a public prosecutor during the infamous Ergenekon investigation, the Hurriyet Daily News reports.

The court ruled that public prosecutor Hamdi Ünal Karabeyoğlu’s “right to respect for privacy and family life” was violated in the use of information obtained by telephone wiretapping. It also ruled that his “right to effective remedy” was violated.

Karabeyoğlu had appealed to the ECHR over his case in Turkey, which was part of the Ergenekon investigation – a massive probe into hundreds of senior military personnel, journalists and politicians on charges of attempting to stage a coup against the Turkish government.

The ECHR found that Karabeyoǧlu had received “the minimum degree of protection required by the rule of law in a democratic society,” as his telephone wiretap was found to be based on reasonable suspicion and so was carried out in line with the relevant legislation.

However, the court also ruled that “the use of the information thus obtained in the context of a disciplinary investigation” was not in line with the law and that the relevant legislation was violated both when the information was used for “purposes other than the one for which it had been gathered” and when it was not “destroyed within the 15-day time limit after the criminal investigation had ended.”

ECHR fines Turkey for violating Alevis’ right to religious freedom

April 26, 2016 By administrator

The European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) has ruled Turkey must pay 3,000 euros each to 203 applicants in a case concerning Turkish authorities’ “refusal to provide the applicants, who are followers of the Alevi faith, with [a] public religious service,” the Hurriyet Daily News reports.

In its decision, the court stated that Turkey had violated the applicants’ rights to freedom of religion and the prohibition of discrimination.

In its April 26 ruling, the court said the authorities’ “refusal of the applicants’ requests amounted to a lack of recognition of the religious nature of the Alevi faith and its practices (cem).” The ruling also elaborated that Turkey’s lack to recognize their religious practice had the “effect of denying legal protection to Alevi places of worship [cemevis] and religious leaders [dedes],” thus causing “numerous consequences for the organization, continuation and funding of their religious activities.”

European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) fines Turkey 58,000 euros in five separate cases

November 13, 2014 By administrator

The European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) has fined Turkey a total of 58,000 euros in five separate cases for violations of the European Convention on Human Rights.

Ümran Durmaz had applied to the ECHR over the authorities’ alleged failure to carry out an effective investigation into the death of her daughter in July 2005. The daughter died in hospital, where she had been taken by her husband after taking an overdose of two medicines, after which Durmaz filed a complaint alleging that her daughter’s husband was responsible for the death.

A forensic medical examination found no trace of medicines or other drugs in the deceased women’s blood, or in other samples taken from her body, but it noted that there was an advanced edema in her lungs. In February 2006, the prosecutor decided to close the investigation, concluding that she had committed suicide.

The ECHR ruled that the Turkish authorities had failed to carry out an effective investigation into the death of the applicant’s daughter, and had therefore violated Article 2 of the European Convention. It ordered Turkey to pay 20,000 euros to Durmaz.

In two other decisions, the ECHR ruled that Turkey had breached Article 3 concerning the prohibition of inhuman or degrading treatment and 10,000 euros were to be paid to each applicant.

Turkey was also fined 8,000 euros for breaching the right to liberty and security and the right to a speedy review of the lawfulness of detention in the Ali Rıza Kaplan vs. Turkey case, and it also ordered Turkey to pay 2,000 euros each to five applicants in the Dinç and Others vs. Turkey case for exceeding the proper length of legal proceedings.

November/13/2014