PROCEDURE

The case originated in an application (no. 40593/04) 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 Cengiz Polat (“the applicant”), on 15 October 2004.

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

On 6 November 2006 the Court decided to give notice of the application to the Government. Applying Article 29 § 3 of the Convention, it decided to rule on the admissibility and merits of the application at the same time.

THE FACTS

THE CIRCUMSTANCES OF THE CASE

The applicant was born in 1965. He is currently detained in the Edirne F-type Prison.

On 6 February 1993 the applicant was arrested and placed in police custody by officers from the Anti-terror branch of the Istanbul Security Directorate on suspicion of involvement in the activities of an illegal armed organisation, the TKP/ML-TIKKO (the Turkish Communist Party/Marxist Leninist -Turkish Workers and Peasants' Liberation Army).

On 15 February 1993 the applicant was brought before the public prosecutor and then the investigating judge at the Istanbul State Security Court. On the same day the investigating judge remanded the applicant in custody pending trial.

By an indictment dated 5 April 1993, the public prosecutor initiated criminal proceedings against the applicant and nineteen other defendants before the Istanbul State Security Court, accusing them, inter alia, of membership of an illegal armed organisation and of involvement in activities which undermined the constitutional order of the State. The prosecution sought the death penalty under Article 146 § 1 of the Criminal Code.

In the course of the proceedings, the State Security Court rejected the applicant's requests for release, taking into account the nature of the alleged offence and the state of the evidence.

On 12 June 2000 the applicant was convicted as charged by the Istanbul State Security Court and sentenced to life imprisonment.

On 15 May 2001 the Court of Cassation quashed the applicant's conviction for procedural reasons. The case was remitted to the Istanbul State Security Court for further examination and the applicant remained in custody.

On 7 May 2004 State Security Courts were abolished following a constitutional amendment and the applicant's case was transmitted to the Istanbul Assize Court. In the course of the proceedings, the domestic courts rejected the applicant's requests for release, taking into account the nature of the alleged offence and the documents in the case file. The applicant challenged these decisions under Article 298 of the Criminal Procedure Code; however, the domestic courts rejected all his requests.

On 31 January 2005 the Istanbul Assize Court found the applicant guilty and sentenced him to life imprisonment under Article 146 § 1 of the Criminal Code.

On 20 March 2006 the Court of Cassation quashed the decision of the Assize Court and the case file was remitted to Istanbul Assize Court.

On 4 October 2006 the applicant was released pending trial. According to the information in the case file, as submitted by the parties, the case is still pending before the Istanbul Assize Court.