PROCEDURE

The case originated in an application (no. 74507/01) against the Republic of Turkey lodged with the Court under Article 34 of the Convention for the Protection of Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms (“the Convention”) by a Turkish national, Mr Mahmut Aslan (“the applicant”), on 2 November 2000.

The applicant was represented by Mr P. Frei, lawyer practising in Zurich. The Turkish Government (“the Government”) did not designate an Agent for the purposes of the proceedings before the Court.

On 4 October 2005 the Court declared the application partly inadmissible and decided to communicate the complaints concerning the length of the criminal proceedings and the lack of an effective domestic remedy to the Government. Under the provisions of Article 29 § 3 of the Convention, it decided to examine the merits of the application at the same time as its admissibility.

THE FACTS

THE CIRCUMSTANCES OF THE CASE

The applicant was born in 1959 and lives in Seewen, Switzerland.

On 17 May 1982 the applicant was arrested and taken into custody. On 8 July 1982 he was remanded in custody.

On 6 December 1982 the public prosecutor at the Diyarbakır Martial Law Court filed a bill of indictment with the latter, accusing the applicant of membership of an illegal organisation. He requested that the applicant be convicted and sentenced under Article 168 § 1 of the Criminal Code.

On 19 February 1985 the Diyarbakır Martial Law Court convicted the applicant as charged and sentenced him to twenty-four years' imprisonment. This judgment was quashed by the Military Court of Cassation on 10 April 1990.

On 27 November 1990 the applicant was released from detention.

Subsequent to promulgation of Law no. 3953 on 27 December 1993, which abolished the jurisdiction of the Martial Courts, the Diyarbakır Assize Court acquired jurisdiction over the applicant's case.

On 13 July 1998 the Diyarbakır Assize Court ordered that the criminal proceedings against the applicant be terminated on the ground that the statutory time limit under Articles 102 and 104 of the Criminal Code had expired. At the time of this decision the applicant was not represented by a lawyer before this court. However, this judgment was erroneously notified to Mr S.D. (the legal representative of another co-accused, who bore the same name and surname as the applicant, during the proceedings before the Diyarbakır Martial Law Court) and became final on 12 March 1999.

The applicant inquired about the developments in his case on 16 May 2000. As the judgment was in his favour, the applicant did not lodge an appeal with the Court of Cassation.