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TURKEY
CASE No. TK/39 - LEYLA ZANA
CASE No. TK/41 - HATIP DICLE
CASE No. TK/42 - ZÜBEYIR AYDAR
CASE No. TK/51 - ORHAN DOGAN
CASE No. TK/52 - SELIM SADAK
CASE No. TK/53 - NIZAMETTIN TOGUÇ
CASE No. TK/55 - MEHMET SINÇAR
CASE No. TK/57 - MAHMUT KILINÇ
CASE No. TK/59 - ALI YIGIT
CASE No. TK/62 - REMZI KARTAL

Resolution adopted unanimously by the IPU Governing Council at its 180th session<
(Nusa Dua, Bali, 4 May 2007)

The Governing Council of the Inter-Parliamentary Union,

Referring to the case of the parliamentarians listed above, former members of the Grand National Assembly of Turkey, as outlined in the report of the Committee on the Human Rights of Parliamentarians (CL/180/12(b)-R.1), and to the resolution adopted at its 179th session (October 2006),

Taking into account a letter from the President of the Turkish Group, dated 27 April 2007, and a communication from one of the sources dated 2 May 2007,

Recalling that Ms. Zana, Mr. Dicle, Mr. Dogan and Mr. Sadak were sentenced in December 1994 to a 15-year prison term for membership of an armed organization; on 26 June 2001, the European Court of Human Rights ruled that they had not enjoyed a fair trial; a retrial opened in March 2003 before the Ankara State Security Court, which on 21 April 2004 upheld the conviction and the sentence, again without respecting fair trial guarantees; on 9 June and 14 July 2004, the Cassation Court (Yargitay) ruled that Ms. Zana, Mr. Dicle, Mr. Dogan and Mr. Sadak had not received a fair trial, and ordered their release and retrial,

Recalling that serious concerns have been expressed that the second retrial, too, was not proceeding in accordance with fair trial standards laid down by the European Court of Human Rights, in particular that important exonerating evidence had been destroyed,

Considering that in March 2007 the Court sentenced Leyla Zana, Hatip Dicle, Orhan Doga and Selim Sadak to seven years and six months of imprisonment under Article 5 of Law 3713 and Article 314 (2) of the Turkish Penal Code and that the former parliamentarians concerned have filed a petition with the Cassation Court against that ruling,

  1. Thanks the President of the Turkish IPU Group for his letter and the information provided;

  2. Would appreciate receiving a copy of the judgment, particularly a statement of the legal grounds;

  3. Fears that this judgment may again be the outcome of a flawed trial;

  4. Wishes to be kept informed of the proceedings before the Court of Cassation;

  5. Requests the Secretary General to convey this resolution to the parliamentary authorities and to the sources.

  6. Requests the Committee to continue examining this case and report to it at its next session, to be held on the occasion of the 117th Assembly (October 2007).
Note: you can download a complete electronic version of the brochure "Results of the 116th IPU Assembly and related meetings" in PDF format (file size 511K approximately ). This version requires Adobe Acrobat Reader, which you can download free of charge.Get Acrobat Reader

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