Journalist Tamer Brought Turkish Court to Adopt ECHR Decision

In respect of the decision taken by the European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) in 2007, the Bakırköy (Istanbul) 15^th Criminal Court of First Instance decided for the acquittal of Meral Tamer, writer for the nationwide Milliyet newspaper. Meral had been sued by former President Süleyman Demirel and convicted on the grounds of her articles entitled "Who is responsible for the rubble?" and "The 7.4 earthquake did not shake Demirel".

On 18 May, the court decided that Tamers articles remained within the borders of press freedom and freedom of thought. With the reasoned pronouncement of the decision, the case resulted in favour of the journalist. Tamer's struggle for her right lasted for ten years.

Charges of "insult" were pressed against Tamer after the articles had been published on 20 and 24 August 1999 subsequent to the devastating earthquake in the north-eastern Marmara region on 17 August 1999.

ECHR dispensed justice

The case was opened on 16 November 1999. Eleven months later, Tamer was handed down a prison sentence of 16 months. The court decided to suspend the penalty and drop it in case Tamer would not commit any further crime within the coming five years. On 12 November 2007, the ECHR announced its decision on the case and decreed that Tamer's conviction had been unlawful. The international court sentenced Turkey to a monetary fine of € 6,000 in compensation.

Dostane çözüm değil beraat etmek istedi

Tamer rejected the reconciliation request worth € 10,000 made by the state. With the help of her lawyer Kösal Bayraktar, she applied for a new trial in Turkey related to the positive decision of the ECHR.

Bayraktar said that it was the first time in Turkey that a case was re-tried at a domestic court after having been decided at the ECHR. "In order to go this way, a person has to apply to the domestic Turkish court where she or he was convicted. Tamer showed an utterly firm stance on this matter. This stance was also ground-breaking for us. We saw the great importance of a firm legal conscience".

The file was re-tried at the Bakırköy 15^th Criminal Court of First Instance, which decided for Tamer's acquittal. Tamer commented, "I am glad I did not accept the state's request for reconciliation. Thanks to this, my articles will be proved as criticism and not as insult, even ten years later". (EÖ/VK)