European Court of Human Rights (ECtHR) decided that the speech made by Osman Baydemir in 2006, that faced lawsuits, was within his right to “freedom of expression and thought.”
Diyarbakır Chief Public Prosecutor’s Office had started an investigation against former Diyarbakır Metropolitan Municipality Co-Chair Osman Baydemir due to the speech he made in 2006 on the killing of 14 PKK members with chemical weapons due to “willfully aiding and abetting an illegal organization.” “You’ve protected our pain. Our pain was 14, now it’s 16. I thank you for your courage. We are also with you. Police officers must withdraw in their stations and young people in their homes,” Baydemir stated during the speech.
During the prosecution of the lawsuit filed after the acceptance of the indictment by Diyarbakır 6th Assize Court, the charge was changed to “praising the offense and the offender.” Diyarbakır 6th Assize Court sentenced Baydemir to two months of imprisonment due to “praising the offense and the offender” in 2008 after 11 hearings and turned the sentence into a judicial fine. Following the approval of the verdict by the Court of Cassation, Baydemir’s lawyer Reyhan Yalçındağ carried the case to the ECtHR.
The ECtHR decided that Baydemir’s freedom of expression and thought was violated and sentenced Turkey to pay 2.975 Euros of compensation as well as 1000 Euros of court expenses.
17.01.2019
Gazete Duvar