CASE OF BULUT v. TURKEY
Violation of Article 5 - Right to liberty and security (Article 5-4 - Review of lawfulness of detention);Violation of Article 5 - Right to liberty and security (Article 5-5 - Compensation)
Julia Laffranque;Paul Lemmens
4. The applicant was born in 1992 and lives in Istanbul. 5. The facts of the case, as submitted by the parties, may be summarised as follows. 6. On 15 February 2009 the applicant was arrested by police officers from the Istanbul Police Headquarters on suspicion of being involved in the activities of a terrorist organisation. 7. On 18 February 2009 the applicant’s statement was taken by the public prosecutor. The same day the investigating judge at the Istanbul Assize Court ordered that the applicant be detained on remand taking into account the strong suspicion that the applicant had committed the offence he was charged with and risk of tampering with evidence. 8. On 27 March 2009 the Istanbul public prosecutor filed an indictment with the Istanbul Assize Court. He charged the applicant with membership of an armed terrorist organisation, making the propaganda of an armed terrorist organisation, contravening the Meetings and Demonstration Marches Act (Law no. 2911), and causing damage to public property. 9. On 5 May 2009 at the end of the preparatory hearing, the Istanbul Assize Court decided that the applicant’s detention should be continued taking into account the nature of the offence, the state of evidence and the fact that his statements had not yet been taken. 10. On 2 October 2009 the applicant’s trial resumed. At the first hearing, in the presence of the applicant, the court ordered that the applicant’s detention on remand be continued on the same grounds. 11. At hearings held on 16 February 2010 and 8 June 2010, respectively, the applicant’s requests to be released from detention on remand were rejected by the trial court. The applicant filed objections against these decisions. On 15 March 2010 and 7 July 2010, the Istanbul Assize Court dismissed the objections. The court decided on the basis of the case file, without holding a public hearing. In delivering its decisions, the court also took into consideration the written opinion of the public prosecutors, which had not been communicated to the applicant or his representative. 12. On 23 November 2010 the Istanbul Assize Court released the applicant from detention on remand taking into account the period he had remained in detention. 13. On 17 October 2010 the case was transferred to the Juvenile Court. 14. According to the information in the case file, the case is still pending before the Istanbul Anadolu Juvenile Court.