KARABOUYIOUKLOU v. GREECE
Inadmissible
Françoise Tulkens
The applicant, Mr Retzep Karabouyiouklou, is a Greek national, who was born in 1959 and lives in Xanthi. The Government are represented by Mr V. Kyriazopoulos and Mr D. Kalogiros of the Legal Council of the State, Acting Agents. The facts of the case, as submitted by the parties, may be summarised as follows. The applicant, who considers himself a member of the Muslim Turkish minority of Thrace, is a graduate of the Special Academy for Teachers of Thessaloniki. He used to work as a teacher in the minority schools of Thrace. His conditions of employment were not different from those of other civil servants. On 18 January 1993 the Minority Schools Office of the Prefecture of Rodopi called all the Muslim teachers of the minority schools of Rodopi to attend an educational meeting on 1 February 1993. The aim of the meeting was to present new books for the teaching of the Turkish language, which would be delivered to the directors of the schools between 2 and 5 February 1993. A similar order was issued on 19 January 1993 by the Minority Schools Office of the Prefecture of Xanthi. On 26 January 1993 the Co-ordination Committee of the Highest Council of the Muslim Turkish Minority of Western Thrace issued a statement to the effect that the content of these books “was in breach of the autonomy of the Muslim Turkish Minority of Western Thrace” and failed to respect certain international agreements. The Muslim teachers were called upon not to collect these books and the Muslim pupils not to attend school between 1 and 5 February 1993, in order to voice the protest of the Muslim Turkish Minority of Western Thrace. On 29 January 1993 the Union of Turkish Teachers of Western Thrace issued a statement to the effect that the Turkish schools of Western Thrace would be closed between 1 and 5 February 1993, because the Turkish teachers of Western Thrace were against the Turkish language books which the Greek State intended to distribute to the pupils of the minority schools. The statement also said that all the Turkish Muslim teachers of Western Thrace would participate in the strike. Reference was made to the members of the Union of Teachers of Western Thrace who were graduates of the Special Academy for Teachers of Thessaloniki. The statement specified that all those who felt they were Turkish and who wanted to learn or teach the Turkish language would take part in the boycott. On an unspecified date, a Muslim religious leader, the mufti of Xanthi, called on the Muslim teachers who felt they were Turkish, not to go to the presentation of the books on 1 February 1993. On 1 February 1993 eleven teachers of the minority schools of Xanthi, including the applicant, signed a statement to the effect that they would not attend the educational meeting in the Minority Schools Office of the Prefecture of Xanthi in order to protest about certain unfair decisions against them concerning posting, transfer and secondment and their exclusion from training seminars in Thessaloniki and Strasbourg. They specified that they would not carry out their duties between 1 and 5 February 1993. On 5 February 1993 the Executive Committee of the Highest Council of the Muslim Turkish Minority of Western Thrace issued a statement congratulating the pupils and teachers who took part in the mobilisation which showed the length to which the minority was prepared to go in order to vindicate its rights. On 8 February 1993 the Minority Schools Office of the Prefecture of Xanthi decided to institute disciplinary proceedings under Article 206 § 1 of the Civil Servants’ Code against thirteen minority school teachers, including the applicant, for having failed to attend the educational meeting of 1 February 1993. On 10 February 1993 the Regional Disciplinary Board of Xanthi ordered an inquiry and decided provisionally to suspend the applicant from his duties for a year pending the outcome of the disciplinary proceedings against him. On 31 March 1993 the Ministry of Education confirmed the decision of the Regional Disciplinary Board of Xanthi regarding the provisional suspension of the applicant from his duties. On 5 April 1994 the Regional Disciplinary Board of Xanthi issued a decision in which it considered the following: – Firstly, the applicant had been asked by his superiors to attend the educational meeting of 1 February 1993 but had failed to do so, arguing that attending the meeting would have disrupted his relationship with his pupils and their parents and put his personal integrity in danger. However, the Board considered that this excuse was not valid, because the meeting would have taken place in the city of Xanthi far from the applicant’s school area. Moreover, the applicant took part in the strike between 1 and 5 February 1993 complying with the order and appeal of the irregular Co-ordination Committee of the Highest Council of the Muslim Turkish Minority of Western Thrace and the appeal of the illegally self-proclaimed mufti of Xanthi calling on the Muslim teachers who felt they were Turkish not to attend the meeting of 1 February 1993. He had accused the State of persecuting him. His illegal acts had contributed to creating tension and commotion in the minority community. The applicant had allied himself with certain subversive elements in the minority community who falsely contended that there was no equality before the law in Western Thrace. Thus, he had become an agent of foreign anti-Greek powers. These facts constituted the following disciplinary offences: not having faith in and dedication to his country (Article 206 § 1–1 of the Civil Servants’ Code), refusing to discharge his duties or employing obstructive tactics (Article 206 § 1–19 of the Code), taking part in a strike in breach of Article 23 § 2 of the Constitution and the relevant legislation (Article 206 § 1–20 of the Code) and intentionally engaging in an act or omission which could damage or endanger the interests of the State (Article 206 § 1–27 of the Code). – Secondly, the applicant had publicly criticised the Ministry of Education on the ground that the new books were distributed in breach of international agreements concluded by Greece. As a result, he had committed the disciplinary offence of criticising the actions of his superiors in public using phraseology which showed lack of respect or intentionally using unfounded arguments (Article 206 § 1–6 of the above-mentioned Code). – Thirdly, the applicant had become an organ of irregular committees acting against the interests of the nation. His actions had stirred up trouble in the minority community and had led to the involvement of Turkish newspapers, to tension between the two countries, and to criminal proceedings being instituted against parents who had disrupted the functioning of the schools. As a result, the applicant had committed the disciplinary offence of failing to respect a duty imposed by criminal law (Article 206 § 1–28 of the Code). The Board was fully satisfied that the applicant “acting in full conscience and with intent and malice, behaving in a manner incompatible with [his] status as civil servant, acting against the nation and obeying the commands of anti-Greek power structures, aimed at destabilising the region where the situation was until then normal and creating social unrest”. In the light of all the above, the Board decided to dismiss the applicant. On 7 April 1994 the Prefect of Xanthi ordered the applicant’s dismissal by virtue of Article 12 of Presidential Decree no. 1024/1979. Under that decree, pertaining to the appointment and career of Muslim teachers in the minority schools of Thrace, the Prefect is the competent authority to pronounce the termination of service of Muslim teachers. On 30 May 1994 the applicant challenged the decision of the Disciplinary Board and the Prefect’s decision before the Council of State. He claimed that he did not lack faith in and dedication to his country, that he had not acted against social order, that he had the right to engage in objective and reasonable criticism of the actions of his superiors or the Government, that he had not refused to discharge his duties but had instead participated in a lawful strike, that he had not engaged in any acts which could have caused damage to the State or in any criminal offences, that he had been forced not to collect the books in person because his life had been threatened by other Muslims, that the Board had attributed wrong motives to his actions which were not anti-Greek and that his punishment aimed at his destruction. He further submitted that the hearing before the Disciplinary Board had not been preceded by a proper inquiry, that he had been punished for offences which were not mentioned in the decision instituting proceedings against him and that the Board had not heard a number of witnesses he had proposed. Finally, the applicant argued that the decision of the Board was not duly reasoned in that it failed to specify how his actions amounted to the particular disciplinary offences which should be punished with the particular penalty. On 22 June 1995 the Council of State rejected the applicant’s appeal against the decision of the Disciplinary Board of 5 April 1994. The Council considered that the inquiry ordered on 10 February 1993 satisfied the requirements of the law and that the Board had not failed to examine any witnesses proposed by the applicant. The Council also considered that the applicant could not be punished for facts other than those which were mentioned in the decision of 8 February 1993 by which the disciplinary proceedings had been instituted. The applicant could only be punished for having failed to attend the educational meeting of 1 February 1993. However, the Disciplinary Board and the Council of State remained free to examine these facts under different legal provisions from those mentioned in the decision instituting disciplinary proceedings. The Council considered that the applicant’s failure to attend the meeting of 1 February 1993 in order to participate in the strike between 1 and 5 February 1993 amounted to the disciplinary offence of serious disobedience under Article 207 § 4–10 of the Civil Servants’ Code. The Council found that the punishment imposed was appropriate given the circumstances in which the offence had taken place. The Council referred in this connection to the statement of 26 January 1993 of the Co-ordination Committee of the Highest Council of the Muslim Turkish Minority of Western Thrace, the statement of 29 January 1993 of the Union of Turkish Teachers of Western Thrace and the statement of the mufti of Xanthi which called on all the Muslim teachers who considered themselves Turkish not to attend the educational meeting of 1 February 1993. The Council considered that the applicant had obviously associated his failure to comply with the order to attend the educational meeting with the above-mentioned statements of organisations which purported to represent the self-proclaimed Turkish minority of Western Thrace. Seen in the light of the above, the applicant’s actions had had as a result the disruption of the functioning of the minority schools in Western Thrace in which the State was particularly interested. They had also resulted in social unrest among the Muslim minority of this sensitive region. This in turn could have resulted in dangerous albeit unwarranted disruption of the friendly relations between Greece and neighbouring countries and in the disruption of the harmonious coexistence between the Greek citizens, Muslim and Christian, who lived in Western Thrace. Finally, the Council considered that the decision of the Board was duly reasoned. All the elements of the disciplinary offence of serious disobedience were set out in the decision which specified that the applicant had not attended the meeting of 1 February 1993, although he had been asked to do so by his superiors. The decision also specified that the applicant had complied with the order and appeal of the irregular Coordination Committee of the Highest Council of the Muslim Turkish Minority of Western Thrace and the appeal of the illegally self-proclaimed mufti of Xanthi calling on the Muslim teachers who felt they were Turkish not to attend the meeting of 1 February 1993 (decision no. 3597/1995). On 4 December 1995 the Prefect of Xanthi revoked his decision of 7 April 1994 and, in compliance with decision no. 3597/1995 of the Council of State, ordered the applicant’s dismissal as from the same date. On 4 April 1996 the Council of State struck out the proceedings instituted against the Prefect’s decision of 7 April 1994, on the ground that the decision complained of had already been revoked by the Prefect (decision no. 1717/1996). On 4 December 1997 the Prefect ordered for the third time the applicant’s dismissal. On 16 March 1998 the applicant appealed against the Prefect’s decision of 4 December 1997 to the Administrative Court of Appeal of Komotini. He claimed that all other civil servants were dismissed by ministerial decision and complained that his dismissal by prefectural decision was contrary to religious freedom. He further complained that he was not previously heard by the Prefect. The applicant further invoked Articles 6 and 14 of the Convention and 1 of Protocol No. 1. On 13 June 2000 the Administrative Court of Appeal rejected the appeal (decision no. 174/2000). The court held that, by definition, the Prefect had a better knowledge of the local situation than the Minister; therefore, it could not be sustained that the delegation to the Prefect to pronounce the termination of service of Muslim teachers violated the religious freedom. Moreover, the court held that the Prefect’s decision aimed at complying with the relevant decisions of the Council of State; therefore, the previous hearing of the applicant was not required. The applicant did not appeal against this decision to the Council of State. The applicant claims that he has instituted civil and administrative proceedings in order to recover several sums (arrears of salaries, compensation for his dismissal, etc.). The applicant alleges that a set of proceedings instituted on 30 June 1997 before the First Instance Court of Rodopi is still pending. He further alleges that on 12 October 1998 the Minority Schools Office notified to him a decision of the Minister of Education that his pecuniary claims had been statute-barred. On 2 September 1997 the applicant instituted proceedings also before the First Instance Administrative Court of Komotini. On 28 December 2001 the court noted that the applicant had perceived his salaries for a certain period after his dismissal. It declared his recourse inadmissible on the ground that the applicant was not duly represented by a lawyer (decision no. 280/2001). The applicant did not appeal against this decision within the sixty days time-limit provided for by the Code of Administrative Proceedings.