PROCEDURE

The case originated in an application (no. 29287/02) 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 three Turkish nationals, Mr Mehmet Ali Ayhan, Mr Ali Akkurt and Mr Şükrü Töre (“the applicants”), on 11 June 2002.

The applicants were represented by Mr M.A. Kırdök and Mrs M. Kırdök, lawyers practising in Istanbul. The Turkish Government (“the Government”) were represented by their Agent for the purposes of the proceedings before the Court.

On 11 December 2006 the Court decided to give notice of the application to the Government. It also decided to examine the merits of the application at the same time as its admissibility (Article 29 § 3).

THE FACTS

I. THE CIRCUMSTANCES OF THE CASE

The applicants were born in 1961, 1959 and 1964 respectively.

A. The criminal proceedings against Mr Ayhan

In the course of a police operation against an illegal armed organisation, namely the TKEP (the Communist Labour Party of Turkey), the police arrested and detained Mr Ayhan in police custody on 5 May 1993. The applicant had fake identity papers on him at the time of the arrest.

He was subsequently brought before a judge who remanded him in custody on 19 May 1993.

By an indictment dated 30 July 1993, the public prosecutor initiated criminal proceedings against the applicant and other accused before the Istanbul State Security Court, accusing the applicant, inter alia, of participation in activities which undermined the constitutional order of the State. These included aggravated theft from various jewellery shops and involvement in the killing of Mr Y.I. and Mr M.Ö in 1990 and 1991 respectively. The prosecution sought the death penalty under Article 146 § 1 of the Criminal Code.

In the course of the proceedings before the Istanbul State Security Court, the latter considered the applicant’s detention at the end of each hearing of its own motion and each time it ordered continued detention with reference to the nature of the offence, the state of the evidence and the content of the case file. At the hearing held on 28 January 1997, the applicant requested to be released for the first time. The court ordered the continuation of his detention, having regard to the nature of the offences with which he was charged and the state of the evidence. Thereafter until 30 May 2000 the applicant did not specifically request release. However, the court continued of its own motion to examine the applicant’s detention and ordered it to be continued on the same grounds as before. Between the hearings held on 30 May 2000 and 24 February 2004, the court considered the applicant’s detention regularly, either of its own motion or at the request of the applicant, and each time it ordered his continued detention, having regard to the nature of the offence, the state of the evidence and the content of the case file.

On 24 February 2004 the Istanbul State Security Court convicted the applicant as charged and sentenced him to life imprisonment. This judgment was upheld by the Court of Cassation on 4 October 2004.

B. The criminal proceedings against Mr Akkurt and Mr Töre

On 10 February 1994 the second applicant, Mr Akkurt, and the third applicant, Mr Töre, were arrested and taken into custody on suspicion of involvement in the activities of the above-mentioned organisation. They were remanded in custody on 24 February 1994.

By an indictment dated 17 May 1994, the public prosecutor initiated criminal proceedings against the applicants and other accused before the Istanbul State Security Court, accusing the applicants, inter alia, of involvement in activities which undermined the constitutional order of the State. These included aggravated theft from various jewellery shops. The prosecution sought the death penalty under Article 146 § 1 of the Criminal Code.

In the course of the proceedings before the Istanbul State Security Court, the latter considered the applicants’ detention at the end of each hearing of its own motion, and each time it ordered their continued detention with reference to the nature of the offence, the state of the evidence and the content of the case file. At a hearing held on 5 August 1998, the applicants requested to be released for the first time. The court ordered the continuation of their detention, having regard to the nature of the offence and the length of their detention. Thereafter until 4 November 2002 the court considered the applicants’ detention regularly, either of its own motion or at the request of the applicants, and each time it ordered their continued detention, having regard to the nature of the offence, the state of the evidence and the content of the case file. On 4 November 2002 the applicants, at their request, were released pending trial. The court took note, in determining their request for release, of the length of time the applicants had already spent in detention and the state of the evidence.

On 27 December 2006 the Istanbul Assize Court convicted the applicants as charged and sentenced them to life imprisonment. Their appeal against this decision is apparently pending before the Court of Cassation.