Justice: Turkey condemned again by the European Court of Human Rights
The seat of the ECHR in Strasbourg (illustrative image).
AFP PHOTO / PATRICK HERTZOG
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On Tuesday, January 19, the European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) again condemned Turkey twice for the illegal pre-trial detention of two journalists.
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The ECHR has again condemned Turkey after the arrest and pre-trial detention in 2016 of singer and columnist Atilla Tas, because of several
tweets
, as well as articles and columns published in the daily
Meydan
between 2011 and 2016 , very critical of government policies.
Mr. Tas had been prosecuted for terrorism-related offenses.
In November 2020, the European Court of Human Rights (EDH) had already fined Ankara for its "
interference
" in freedom of expression and the placement in pre-trial detention of several journalists from the opposition daily
Cumhuriyet
, a few months after the failed coup against President Recep Tayyip Erdogan in 2016.
Violation of the right to liberty and security
In this case, the judges of the ECHR decided that there had been a violation of the right to liberty and security (Article 5 of the European Convention on Human Rights) and of the right to freedom of expression. (article 10).
“
None of the decisions relating to the placement and continued pre-trial detention of Mr. Tas contain any evidence capable of indicating a plausible link between the acts of the person concerned - namely his articles and
tweets
of a political nature - and the terrorism-related offenses for which he was accused
”, underlines the ECHR.
"
The Court also judges that the deprivation of liberty suffered by Mr. Tas constituted an interference with his right to freedom of expression, which was not provided for by law
", she continued, condemning Ankara to pay the applicant 12,275 euros for non-pecuniary damage and 3,175 euros for costs and expenses.
Turkey in 157th place out of 180 in 2019 press freedom rankings
In a second case, which dates back to 2010, the ECHR also condemned Turkey on Tuesday for the pre-trial detention of Mehdi Tanrikulu, editor-in-chief of the daily
Azadiya Welat
, a newspaper published in the Kurdish language in Turkey.
There too Ankara is condemned for violations of Articles 5 and 10 of the European Convention on Human Rights, and will have to pay 5,000 euros to the applicant for non-pecuniary damage.
Regularly accused by NGOs of undermining press freedom by arresting journalists and shutting down media, Turkey was 157th out of 180 in the 2019 press freedom ranking established by Reporters Without Borders (RSF).
(
with AFP
)
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