FREEDOM OF EXPRESSION

Birecik'in Sesi ('Voice of Birecik') newspaper official Şevket Demir has been sentenced to imprisonment and compensation fines on the grounds of his column entitled "Are you a police officer or a village chief?" The column was concerned with maltreatment by a police officer from Birçek in the south-eastern province of Şanlıurfa. Journalist Demir now seeks remedy at the European Court of Human Rights (ECHR).

The Birecik High Criminal Court handed a postponed 3 months prison sentence to Demir on 15 January. The Civil Court of First Instance decreed for 8,000 Turkish Lira (approx. € 3640) in compensation to be paid by the journalist.

No acquittal and rejection of the objection

Lawyer Adile Arıcı from the Şanlıurfa Bar Association criticizes the regulation of "arrest of judgement" as offered by article 231 of the Criminal Procedure Code (CMK). The lawyer told bianet that they were not able to achieve any results by objecting to the Şanlıurfa High Criminal Court. On 15 June they received an answer saying that "regarding the procedure no deviation could be observed".

Although the 3 months prison sentence has been postponed, Arıcı said that they are preparing to apply to the ECHR, "Even if they would tell us to our faces, we are waiting to be notified of the decision.  A case that we expected to result in an acquittal was decided for both prison sentence and compensation payment".

The lawyer explained that the application to the ECHR is based on the violation of article 6 on the "right to a fair trial" and article 10 on "freedom of expression" of the European Convention of Human Rights.

Journalist supposedly addressed police officer disrespectfully

Complainant police officer Fatih Çevik put forward that journalist Demir came to the Fırat Police Office and asked him "Shhhh, where is your supervisor?". Apparently, the police officer answered "First of all introduce yourself", and Demir allegedly replied "How old are you, who are you, where is your supervisor?"

Police officer Çevik claimed that the journalist insulted him in his column. The newspaper on the other hand stated that they put pen to paper due to requests of citizens who complained about the police.

"If the state makes a mistake, everybody gets harmed"

In the column on subject, published on 15 February 2008, Demir gave examples of police officers' devotion to their duty and criticized Çevik's attitude. The journalist continued, "People like that harm our society, their supervisor, the institution and the Turkish Republic. But the insight I obtained had a deep impact on me and surprised me".

"The issue that the state is only strong when it is fair is only valid if the state institutions acted within the legal framework. Otherwise, everybody is being harmed if the institutions make mistakes. (EÖ/VK)