Turkey Found Guilty in Three Separate Cases by ECHR

The European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) has found Turkey guilty in three separate legal cases, ordering it to pay substantial compensations to the complainants.

In the first case, Turkey was found guilty of inhumane treatment and violation of the right to respect for private life concerning the claimant. In 2003, N.Ch. approached a Turkish court alleging that at the age of 12, two women compelled him to engage in prostitution. A total of 27 individuals were arrested in connection with the case; however, some were later released while others received relatively lenient sentences. The victim was forced to recount the details of the coerced actions, as well as undergoing forensic examinations ten times. The ECHR ruled that these experiences were extremely traumatic for the victim and unnecessary for the trial. Furthermore, the trial lasted from 2003 to 2011, a duration deemed excessively long by the ECHR. Considering all these circumstances, the court found Turkey guilty of violating Articles 3 and 8 of the European Convention on Human Rights and ordered the country to pay €5,000 in moral damages and €3,000 for legal costs to the complainant.

The second case pertains to the violation of the right to private life concerning Admiral Kadir Sadikci. In 2009, a court case was initiated against the Turkish admiral when local media published confidential details about him, thereby breaching his right to privacy. Sadikci filed lawsuits against the newspapers “Taraf” and “Şafak,” but they were dismissed by local courts. The Constitutional Court of Turkey ruled that no rights had been violated. However, the ECHR established that journalists based their articles on unverified information about the admiral and, by revealing certain facts, breached the principle of confidentiality of the trial. In light of this, the ECHR required Turkey to pay Admiral Kadir Sadikci €2,000 in moral damages and another €2,000 for legal costs.

The third case involved a violation of the right to access information concerning attorney Ramazan Demir. In 2016, he was imprisoned in Silivri and sought to access the websites of the ECHR, the Turkish Constitutional Court, and the official state journal to prepare his defense and follow his clients' cases. However, he was not granted this opportunity. The ECHR ruled that while restrictions on internet access in prisons do not necessarily violate the European Convention on Human Rights, the limitation of access to legal information which cannot be obtained by other means constitutes a violation of the right to be informed. In this case, Turkey was ordered to pay attorney Ramazan Demir €1,500 in moral damages and an additional €2,000 for legal costs.