Europe rights court rules Türkiye violated right to fair trial in counter-terrorism case – JURIST

The European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) ruled on Tuesday against Türkiye for violations of the right to fair trial following the failure of domestic courts to provide adequate reasons for the applicant’s conviction of membership in an armed terrorist organization.

The court found that the trial court of İzmir failed to provide adequate reasons for the conviction of defendant Mustafa Aydin. In the case Mustafa Aydın v. Türkiye, the court also ruled that the trial court did not provide an individual assessment of Mustafa’s conviction proportionate to the gravity of the offense. Moreover, the ECHR found the trial court did not address the applicant’s claims regarding the lack of substantive reasoning in the case. The court concluded a violation of Article 6 of the European Convention on Human Rights (convention), which guarantees the right to a fair and public hearing.

In May 2008, the İzmir Chief Public Prosecutor’s Office charged the applicant and other individuals with membership in an armed terrorist organization under Article 314 of the Criminal Code. Mustafa was a correspondent for the Dicle News Agency at the time. The operation that led to the defendant’s arrest was against the Patriotic Democratic Youth Movement, a youth wing of the Workers’ Party of Kurdistan (PKK). The PKK was also designated as a terrorist group by the European Union in 2004. Türkiye was criticized on several occasions for misusing these counter-terrorist laws to target rights groups and suppress domestic dissent.

The prosecutor presented several claims against the applicant. First, evidence was provided of a printout in the house of a member of the Patriotic Democratic Youth Movement. The printout named “Mustafa A.” as a friend responsible for the press. The applicant also had calls to television program Roj TV which broadcasts in line with the aims of the PKK. Further evidence regarded Mustafa’s connection with an individual named E.Y., who allegedly hung illegal banners. The applicant rejected all these claims, reiterating his role as a news agency correspondent and his lack of connection with any member of a terrorist organization.

In 2014, the trial court found the applicant guilty of being a member of an armed terrorist organization, including a sentence of six years. In response, Mustafa argued the trial court had committed errors of appreciation and delivered an unreasoned judgment, launching failed complaints before the Court of Cassation and the Constitutional Court before being successful before the ECHR.