Long Term Inmates Apply For Suspension After Sledgehammer Ruling
Hasan Polat and Sami Özbil have been jailed for 23 and 16 years respectively.
Özlem Gümüştaş, their lawyer, applied to Supreme Court of Appeals 9th Penal Chamber for the suspension of arrest term and a retrial, saying that the recent Sledgehammer ruling on retrial must set example.
Gümüştaş also brought Polat’s case to the attention of Committee of Ministers of the Council of Europe. She wrote a letter urging the committee officials to make necessary warnings and reminders to Turkey regarding the execution of previous European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) verdict on the case.
A petition has been launched to suspend the arrest term of Polat who has been arrested for “being a MLKP organization leader” and “attempting to change the constitutional order by force” after a series of torture in 1991. He was sentenced to life by Istanbul 1st State Security Court (DGM) on December 10, 2002. The verdict was ratified on April 3, 2002.
On September 22, 2009, ECHR ruled that Turkey violated the right to fair trial in Polat’s case, pointing out the means of retrials.
Sami Özbil, on the other hand, has been sentenced to life for being “a TKEP/L leader and attempting to change the constitutional order by armed force” - a ruling that was ratified by Supreme Court of Appeals 9th Penal Chamber. ECHR also found Turkey guilty of fair trial, ordering the Turkish state for retrial as “the defendants testified under torture”.
Polat ve Özbil are currently jailed in a high security prison [known as F type in Turkey] in the northwestern province of Kocaeli. On July 9, Polat will stand trial at Supreme Court of Appeals 9th Penal Chamber. (AS/BM)
* Click here to read the article in Turkish.
