ECHR Considering Turkish Cases
Today, the European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) is to start hearing the appeals of several Turkish journalists who have been penalised with prison sentences or publishing bans for their news and articles.
The ECHR is going to decide whether Turkey has violated the right to freedom of expression by putting editor Hünkar Demirel of the pro-Kurdish "Gündem" newspaper and Fevzi Saygili and Tuncay Seyman of the left-leaning "Evrensel" newspaper on trial. In Demirel's case, it will also be considered whether his trial was a violation of the European Human Rights Agreement's Article 6/1.
Furthermore, in appeals by Mehmet Colak, Mehmet Selim Okucuoglu and Tuncay Seyman, the ECHR is to decide whether there had been a fair trial.
Last year, the ECHR demanded that the Turkish government pay 398,000 YTL (around 223,160 Euros) in compensation fines. This year, due to a decrease in appeals to the ECHR, Turkey has only been sentenced to paying 18,000 YTL (around 10,090 Euros) compensation. (EÖ/EÜ/AG/EÜ)
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