ECHR Condemns Censorship and Punishments Under Emergency Law

The European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) considered the cases of journalists from the Evrensel and Günlük Evrensel newspapers on Tuesday (8 January).

"Freedom of expression violated" 

The court decreed that the punishment of Evrensel for writing about missing persons and the banning of the sale of the Günlük Evrensel newspaper in the region under emergency law had represented a violation of the freedom of expression.

It has thus sentenced Turkey to paying Fevzi Saygili, Nizamettin Taylan Bilgic and Serpil Kurtay of the Evrensel newspaper 4,000 Euros compensation. Saygili, as owner of the Günlük Evrensel newspaper is to be awarded an additional 2,500 Euros in compensation.

The court decreed that Article 10 of the European Convention on Human Rights was violated when the Günlük Evrensel newspaper was not allowed to be sold in the emergency law region in south-east Anatolia, declared on 23 July 2001.

In addition, the ECHR decreed that the ban did not allow for an appeal to the judiciary, which represented a violation of Article 13 of the Convention. The court did not accept the claim of "discrimination", which the plaintiffs had put forward, citing Article 14 of the Convention.

The ECHR objected against the fines which Turkey sentenced the Evrensel newspaper to paying after it had written about the missing persons. This, so the court, represented a violation of the freedom of expression.

30 magazines and newspapers banned 

In another decision of 24 July 2007, the ECHR had condemned the ban of sales of the Yedinci Gündem newspaper in the region ruled by emergency law.

Martial law was lifted on 19 July 1987 in Turkey, but the south-east of Turkey was then ruled by emergency law until November 2002. During this period, around 30 dissident journals and newspapers were banned in the region, including Evrensel, Demokrasi, Yeni Evrensel, Günlük Emek, Özgür Bakis, Günlük Evrensel and Yedinci Gündem. (EÖ/TK/AG)