Turkey was once again condemned on Tuesday June 29 by the European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) for the detention of a judge following the attempted coup in 2016.
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Unanimously, the seven judges of the Council of Europe court, based in Strasbourg, considered that Ankara had violated several articles of the European Convention on Human Rights by placing in pre-trial detention a former judge of the Constitutional Court and by searching his home in the aftermath of the failed coup of July 15, 2016.
"
On a simple suspicion of belonging to an armed organization
", that of Fethullah Gülen, mastermind designated by Ankara for the attempted coup, Erdal Tercan, judge at the Turkish Constitutional Court since 2011, was arrested on July 16 . He was kept in pre-trial detention until his sentence to ten years in prison in 2019, a sentence against which the former judge, currently still in detention, lodged an appeal which is still pending.
"
The Court considers that the detention of Erdal Tercan did not take place according to the legal means
", considered the ECHR, underlining "
the absence of plausible reasons to suspect this one of having committed an offense
" .
In addition, "
the Court considers that there were no relevant and sufficient grounds to keep Erdal Tercan in pre-trial detention for more than two years and eight months pending his judgment
", added the court which condemns Ankara to pay 20,000 euros to Erdal Tercan for non-pecuniary damage.
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Turkey has been condemned several times in recent months by the ECHR for human rights violations, committed in particular after the attempted coup of July 2016, which was followed by major purges in the army, the judiciary , the media and NGOs.