PROCEDURE

The case originated in an application (no. 21831/03) against the Republic of Turkey lodged with the Court under Article 34 of the Convention for the Protection of Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms (“the Convention”) by fourteen Turkish nationals, Mr Sinan Cem Uzunget, Mr Alaattin Uğraş, Mr Emre Altun, Mr Hikmet Gökçe, Mr Rıza Altuntov, Mr Kazım Savcı, Mr İsmail Temizyürek, Ms Nazime Karakaya, Ms Zeynep Şeker, Ms Leyla Mahi Uğraş, Ms Songül Ergül, Ms Esma Seviş, Ms Fatma Özcelik and Mr Hüseyin Bolat (“the applicants”), on 19 June 2003.

The applicants were represented by Ms E. Olkun, Mr R. Karaman and Mr Kenan Arslan, lawyers practising in Ankara. The Turkish Government (“the Government”) were represented by their Agent.

The applicants complained of an unjustified interference with their right to freedom of assembly and unfairness of the criminal proceedings against them in violation of Articles 6, 9, 10 and 11 of the Convention.

On 16 April 2007 the President of the Second Section decided to give notice of the application to the Government. It was also decided to examine the merits of the application at the same time as its admissibility (Article 29 § 3).

THE FACTS

I. THE CIRCUMSTANCES OF THE CASE

The applicants were born in 1975, 1964, 1982, 1976, 1983, 1978, 1961, 1947, 1955, 1975, 1979, 1953, 1952 and 1976 respectively and live in Ankara.

On 31 July 2000 the applicants, together with several other persons, gathered in a public park in Ankara in protest against F-type prisons and the events which had occurred in Bergama Prison (violent clashes had taken place between the detainees and security forces on 27 July 2000). The participants wanted to read out a press statement in order to express their concerns about F-type prisons and the events in Bergama Prison. Police officers warned the crowd over a megaphone that the demonstration was illegal under Law no. 2911 on Meetings and Demonstration Marches. The group ignored the police warning. The police officers then arrested twenty-four persons, including the applicants, and took them into custody. It appears from the newspaper articles submitted by the applicants that the police officers used force in order to disperse the protesters. As a result, some of the protestors were injured and a number of them were arrested by the police officers.

According to the arrest report, drawn up and signed by the police officers, the applicants were demonstrating with protest banners in their hands. After having warned them to desist, the police arrested the protesters who continued demonstrating. It was also noted in the arrest report that three police officers, who had been injured during the clash with the demonstrators at the time of the arrest, had had to be taken to hospital. The medical reports stated that the police officers were unfit for work for two days.

On 31 August 2000 the Ankara Public Prosecutor filed an indictment with the Ankara Criminal Court of First Instance against the applicants and nine others, charging them with having taken part in a demonstration in a public place, without the permission of the authorities, contrary to Law no. 2911.

The applicants alleged that the police officers had been armed during the hearings before the trial court and had verbally harassed the defence lawyers. Moreover, the police officers had obtained a copy of the reports and statements in the case file even though they were not a party to the proceedings. The applicants' request to include these facts in the record of the hearings was dismissed.

On 5 July 2001 the Ankara Criminal Court of First Instance acquitted some of the accused but convicted the applicants on the basis of the evidence given by them and by witnesses. The court found that the applicants had ignored the police warning that their meeting was illegal and that they had to disperse. The police had had to use force in order to arrest the applicants. Furthermore, having examined the applicants' defence submissions, the court considered that the applicants had indirectly confessed to the crime (tevil yollu ikrar) by admitting that they had gathered in the park in order to protest against F-type prisons and the events in Bergama Prison. It then sentenced Rıza Altuntov to a fine, taking into account the fact that he was a minor at the time of the incident (seventeen and a half years old), whereas it sentenced the other applicants to one year and three months' imprisonment. It decided to suspend enforcement of the applicants' sentence, under section 6 of Law no. 667, with the exception of Alaattin Uğraş, Sinan Cem Uzunget and İsmail Temizyürek.

On 7 March 2002 the applicants appealed to the Court of Cassation against the judgment of the first-instance court. The written opinion of the Chief Public Prosecutor at the Court of Cassation was not transmitted to the applicants.

On 19 December 2002 the Court of Cassation upheld the decision of the first-instance court.
NOT_CONFIDENTIAL
check
001-94979_a10_e1
001-94979_a10_em1
CODE
DIRECT
21831/03
NOT_CONFIDENTIAL
check
001-94979_a10_e2
001-94979_a10_em2
ORG
NO_MASK
Republic of Turkey
NOT_CONFIDENTIAL
check
001-94979_a10_e3
001-94979_a10_em3
DEM
NO_MASK
Turkish
NOT_CONFIDENTIAL
check
001-94979_a10_e4
001-94979_a10_em4
PERSON
DIRECT
Mr Sinan Cem Uzunget
NOT_CONFIDENTIAL
check
001-94979_a10_e5
001-94979_a10_em5
PERSON
QUASI
Mr Alaattin Uğraş
NOT_CONFIDENTIAL
check
001-94979_a10_e6
001-94979_a10_em6
PERSON
QUASI
Mr Emre Altun
NOT_CONFIDENTIAL
check
001-94979_a10_e7
001-94979_a10_em7
PERSON
QUASI
Mr Hikmet Gökçe
NOT_CONFIDENTIAL
check
001-94979_a10_e8
001-94979_a10_em8
PERSON
QUASI
Mr Rıza Altuntov
NOT_CONFIDENTIAL
check
001-94979_a10_e9
001-94979_a10_em9
PERSON
QUASI
Mr Kazım Savcı
NOT_CONFIDENTIAL
insert
001-94979_a10_e10
001-94979_a10_em10
PERSON
QUASI
Mr İsmail Temizyürek
NOT_CONFIDENTIAL
check
001-94979_a10_e11
001-94979_a10_em11
PERSON
QUASI
Ms Nazime Karakaya
NOT_CONFIDENTIAL
check
001-94979_a10_e12
001-94979_a10_em12
PERSON
QUASI
Ms Zeynep Şeker
NOT_CONFIDENTIAL
check
001-94979_a10_e13
001-94979_a10_em13
PERSON
QUASI
Ms Leyla Mahi Uğraş
NOT_CONFIDENTIAL
check
001-94979_a10_e14
001-94979_a10_em14
PERSON
QUASI
Ms Songül Ergül
NOT_CONFIDENTIAL
check
001-94979_a10_e15
001-94979_a10_em15
PERSON
QUASI
Ms Esma Seviş
NOT_CONFIDENTIAL
check
001-94979_a10_e16
001-94979_a10_em16
PERSON
QUASI
Ms Fatma Özcelik
NOT_CONFIDENTIAL
check
001-94979_a10_e17
001-94979_a10_em17
PERSON
QUASI
Mr Hüseyin Bolat
NOT_CONFIDENTIAL
check
001-94979_a10_e18
001-94979_a10_em18
DATETIME
QUASI
19 June 2003
NOT_CONFIDENTIAL
check
001-94979_a10_e19
001-94979_a10_em19
PERSON
QUASI
Ms E. Olkun
NOT_CONFIDENTIAL
check
001-94979_a10_e20
001-94979_a10_em20
PERSON
QUASI
Mr R. Karaman
NOT_CONFIDENTIAL
check
001-94979_a10_e21
001-94979_a10_em21
PERSON
QUASI
Mr Kenan Arslan
NOT_CONFIDENTIAL
check
001-94979_a10_e22
001-94979_a10_em22
LOC
QUASI
Ankara
NOT_CONFIDENTIAL
check
001-94979_a10_e2
001-94979_a10_em23
ORG
NO_MASK
001-94979_a10_em2
Turkish Government
NOT_CONFIDENTIAL
check
001-94979_a10_e23
001-94979_a10_em24
DATETIME
QUASI
16 April 2007
NOT_CONFIDENTIAL
check
001-94979_a10_e24
001-94979_a10_em25
DATETIME
QUASI
1975
NOT_CONFIDENTIAL
check
001-94979_a10_e25
001-94979_a10_em26
DATETIME
QUASI
1964
NOT_CONFIDENTIAL
check
001-94979_a10_e26
001-94979_a10_em27
DATETIME
QUASI
1982
NOT_CONFIDENTIAL
check
001-94979_a10_e27
001-94979_a10_em28
DATETIME
QUASI
1976
NOT_CONFIDENTIAL
check
001-94979_a10_e28
001-94979_a10_em29
DATETIME
QUASI
1983
NOT_CONFIDENTIAL
check
001-94979_a10_e29
001-94979_a10_em30
DATETIME
QUASI
1978
NOT_CONFIDENTIAL
check
001-94979_a10_e30
001-94979_a10_em31
DATETIME
QUASI
1961
NOT_CONFIDENTIAL
check
001-94979_a10_e31
001-94979_a10_em32
DATETIME
QUASI
1947
NOT_CONFIDENTIAL
check
001-94979_a10_e32
001-94979_a10_em33
DATETIME
QUASI
1955
NOT_CONFIDENTIAL
correct
001-94979_a10_e24
001-94979_a10_em34
DATETIME
QUASI
1975
NOT_CONFIDENTIAL
check
001-94979_a10_e33
001-94979_a10_em35
DATETIME
QUASI
1979
NOT_CONFIDENTIAL
check
001-94979_a10_e34
001-94979_a10_em36
DATETIME
QUASI
1953
NOT_CONFIDENTIAL
check
001-94979_a10_e35
001-94979_a10_em37
DATETIME
QUASI
1952
NOT_CONFIDENTIAL
correct
001-94979_a10_e27
001-94979_a10_em38
DATETIME
QUASI
1976
NOT_CONFIDENTIAL
check
001-94979_a10_e22
001-94979_a10_em39
LOC
QUASI
Ankara
NOT_CONFIDENTIAL
check
001-94979_a10_e36
001-94979_a10_em40
DATETIME
QUASI
31 July 2000
NOT_CONFIDENTIAL
check
001-94979_a10_e22
001-94979_a10_em41
LOC
QUASI
Ankara
NOT_CONFIDENTIAL
insert
001-94979_a10_e37
001-94979_a10_em42
ORG
NO_MASK
F-type prisons
NOT_CONFIDENTIAL
correct
001-94979_a10_e38
001-94979_a10_em43
ORG
QUASI
Bergama Prison
NOT_CONFIDENTIAL
check
001-94979_a10_e39
001-94979_a10_em44
DATETIME
QUASI
27 July 2000
NOT_CONFIDENTIAL
check
001-94979_a10_e37
001-94979_a10_em45
ORG
NO_MASK
F-type prisons
NOT_CONFIDENTIAL
check
001-94979_a10_e38
001-94979_a10_em46
ORG
QUASI
Bergama Prison
NOT_CONFIDENTIAL
insert
001-94979_a10_e40
001-94979_a10_em47
QUANTITY
QUASI
twenty-four persons
NOT_CONFIDENTIAL
insert
001-94979_a10_e41
001-94979_a10_em48
QUANTITY
NO_MASK
three police officers
NOT_CONFIDENTIAL
check
001-94979_a10_e42
001-94979_a10_em49
DATETIME
QUASI
two days
NOT_CONFIDENTIAL
check
001-94979_a10_e43
001-94979_a10_em50
DATETIME
QUASI
31 August 2000
NOT_CONFIDENTIAL
check
001-94979_a10_e44
001-94979_a10_em51
ORG
QUASI
Ankara Public Prosecutor
NOT_CONFIDENTIAL
insert
001-94979_a10_e45
001-94979_a10_em52
ORG
QUASI
Ankara Criminal Court of First Instance
NOT_CONFIDENTIAL
insert
001-94979_a10_e46
001-94979_a10_em53
QUANTITY
QUASI
nine others
NOT_CONFIDENTIAL
check
001-94979_a10_e47
001-94979_a10_em54
DATETIME
QUASI
5 July 2001
NOT_CONFIDENTIAL
check
001-94979_a10_e45
001-94979_a10_em55
ORG
QUASI
Ankara Criminal Court of First Instance
NOT_CONFIDENTIAL
check
001-94979_a10_e37
001-94979_a10_em56
ORG
NO_MASK
F-type prisons
NOT_CONFIDENTIAL
check
001-94979_a10_e38
001-94979_a10_em57
ORG
QUASI
Bergama Prison
NOT_CONFIDENTIAL
correct
001-94979_a10_e8
001-94979_a10_em58
PERSON
QUASI
001-94979_a10_em8
Rıza Altuntov
NOT_CONFIDENTIAL
correct
001-94979_a10_e48
001-94979_a10_em59
DEM
QUASI
seventeen and a half years old
NOT_CONFIDENTIAL
check
001-94979_a10_e49
001-94979_a10_em60
DATETIME
QUASI
one year and three months'
NOT_CONFIDENTIAL
check
001-94979_a10_e5
001-94979_a10_em61
PERSON
QUASI
001-94979_a10_em5
Alaattin Uğraş
NOT_CONFIDENTIAL
check
001-94979_a10_e4
001-94979_a10_em62
PERSON
DIRECT
001-94979_a10_em4
Sinan Cem Uzunget
NOT_CONFIDENTIAL
check
001-94979_a10_e10
001-94979_a10_em63
PERSON
QUASI
001-94979_a10_em10
İsmail Temizyürek
NOT_CONFIDENTIAL
check
001-94979_a10_e50
001-94979_a10_em64
DATETIME
QUASI
7 March 2002
NOT_CONFIDENTIAL
check
001-94979_a10_e51
001-94979_a10_em65
ORG
NO_MASK
Court of Cassation
NOT_CONFIDENTIAL
check
001-94979_a10_e52
001-94979_a10_em66
ORG
NO_MASK
Chief Public Prosecutor
NOT_CONFIDENTIAL
check
001-94979_a10_e51
001-94979_a10_em67
ORG
NO_MASK
Court of Cassation
NOT_CONFIDENTIAL
check
001-94979_a10_e53
001-94979_a10_em68
DATETIME
NO_MASK
19 December 2002
NOT_CONFIDENTIAL
check
001-94979_a10_e51
001-94979_a10_em69
ORG
NO_MASK
Court of Cassation
Sinan Cem Uzunget
TUR
CHAMBER
Task: Annotate the document to anonymise the following person: Sinan Cem Uzunget