The European Court of Human Rights (ECtHR) issued its decree on the application of Democratic Society Party Ergani district Chairman Hasan Bakır, after the Party was shut down in 2009. The court decided that Bakır being sentenced to 3 years of imprisonment “based on secret witness statements” due to dancing while holding a fabric with yellow, red, green on it as well as due to a speech he gave at the village coffee house, is a violation of the right to defense. The court underlines that a secret witness statement can not be sufficient evidence by itself for penalty and stated, “In case the defense doesn’t know the identity of the person they will interrogate, they will be deprived of the opportunity to show that this person could be prejudiced, aggressive or untrustworthy.”
25.11.2020
dw.com