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UPDATE - TURKEY
21 June 2007
ECHR condemns three rulings against journalists, accepts a fourth
SOURCE: IPS Communication Foundation (BIANET), Istanbul
**New cases and update to the IFEX alert on the Seyman case of 6 October
2000**
(BIANET/IFEX) - On 14 June 2007, the European Court of Human Rights (ECHR)
decreed that freedom of expression was not curtailed in the case of Hünkar
Demirel, the manager of the weekly newspaper "Yedinci Gündem", who appealed
to the ECHR after he was convicted of "aiding and abetting a terrorist
organisation by spreading propaganda".
Demirel was put to trial over an article published in the newspaper in July
2001, in which he analysed "reasons for joining the organisation" (the
PKK). In June 2002, he was sentenced to a prison term of three years and
nine months, later converted into a fine.
Demirel appealed to the ECHR, arguing that he had not had a fair trial. He
claimed that his freedom of expression had been curtailed and his right to
property violated. The ECHR agreed unanimously that there were doubts about
a fair trial under the State Security Court (DGM). However, it also argued
that the article represented an incitement to violence, quoting sentences
such as "If someone wanted to kill you, you would use legitimate
self-defence" and "If the world is uniting against us, we will use our
right to self-defence". According to the ECHR, the article was an attempt
at "legitimising the PKK rebellion"; the article also apologised for the
violent and random acts of the organisation. The ECHR decreed that in the
light of the agenda of the article, the received sentence was not
excessive.
It ruled that the government is to pay Demirel 1,000 euros in legal costs.
On the same day, the ECHR demanded a total of 5,250 euros from the
government as compensation payments for violating Article 10 in three
separate cases:
- Mehmet Colak, the managing editor of the pro-Kurdish "Yeniden Özgür
Gündem" newspaper, had appealed to the ECHR because the government forbade
distribution and sale of the newspaper in the eastern provinces under
emergency law in September 2002 without an audit by the judiciary.
- Mehmet Selim Okcuoglu had appealed to the ECHR after receiving a one-year
prison sentence and a fine for "separatist propaganda" and "incitement to
hatred and hostility" from the DGM in September 1998. He had written an
article in the Kurdish-interest People's Democracy Party (HADEP)
newsletter, entitled "About the Court Case Against Our Leaders".
- Tuncay Seyman, editor-in-chief of the "Yeni Evrensel" newspaper, and
Fevzi Saygili, the owner, were punished by the DGM in February 2000 for
"inciting hatred and hostility" with their article entitled "The Kurdish
Problem and the Struggle for Equal Rights". They, too, won their appeal to
the ECHR.
For further information contact Nadire Mater at BIANET, Faikpasa Yokusu,
No. 41, Antikhane, Kat: 3, D.8-9, Cukurcuma, Beyoglu, Istanbul, Turkey,
tel: +90 212 251 1503, fax: +90 212 251 1609, e-mail: bia@bianet.org,
Internet: http://www.bianet.org
The information contained in this update is the sole responsibility of
BIANET. In citing this material for broadcast or publication, please credit
BIANET.
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