PROCEDURE

The case originated in an application (no. 22744/07) 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 Mehmet Ali Türk (“the applicant”), on 18 May 2007.

The applicant was represented by Mr A. Bozan, a lawyer practising in Mersin. The Turkish Government (“the Government”) were represented by their Agent.

The applicant alleged, in particular, that he had not had a fair trial on account of the fact that he had been tricked by the police into making incriminating statements without having been advised of his basic rights and in the absence of legal assistance. He also complained that he had not had an opportunity at any stage of the proceedings to question, examine and confront M.N.A., whose statements had been used, to a decisive extent, to convict him.

On 4 January 2012 the application was communicated to the Government.

THE FACTS

I. THE CIRCUMSTANCES OF THE CASE

The applicant was born in 1972 and is currently serving a life sentence in Antalya.

On an unspecified date the applicant went to the Mersin Security Directorate headquarters to complete certain procedures regarding the sale of his car and found out that a warrant for his arrest had been issued by the Antalya Security Directorate.

Subsequently, at approximately 1 p.m. on 16 February 2004 the applicant went to the Antalya Security Directorate. It appears that at some point he confessed to his involvement in the shooting of a certain K.G. and as a result, at 4 p.m. the same day he took part in a photo identification procedure. According to a report drawn up by the police and signed by the applicant, the applicant turned himself in and confessed to his involvement in the shooting of K.G., which had taken place in 1992, and identified S.K., M.N.A. and A.Y. as his accomplices. There was no record indicating that the applicant had been advised of his rights, including his right to legal assistance and his right to remain silent, under the Code of Criminal Procedure in force at the material time.

At around 5.30 p.m. the same day, the applicant participated in a reconstruction of the events (yer gösterme). According to the record drafted by police officers and signed by the applicant, the latter described in detail what steps he had taken before the shooting, how he had shot K.G. in 1992 in Antalya, and how he had left the crime scene. There was no record indicating that the applicant had been advised of his rights, including his right to legal assistance and to remain silent, under the Code of Criminal Procedure in force at the material time.

The police started questioning the applicant at around 6.30 p.m. the same day. According to the applicant, he was shown an arrest warrant, dated 19 November 1992, in which the offence was indicated as “breaching Law no. 6136 (the Firearms Act)” and the deadline stipulated in the statute of limitations was “2 September 1997”. In this connection, the police officers told him that the offence for which he was being sought was illegal possession of firearms and explosives contrary to Law no. 6136. They said that any statement given by him was merely a “formality”, since the time-limit for prosecution of that offence had already expired in 1997. The applicant therefore agreed to give a statement. His statements were transcribed on a pre-printed form. According to this form, he had been reminded of his rights to remain silent and to be represented by a lawyer. It appears that the applicant had refused legal assistance, since the first page of the record includes a pre-printed phrase stating “No lawyer is requested” with the applicant’s signature underneath. He was thus questioned in the absence of a lawyer.

The applicant was accordingly questioned at the Anti-Terrorism Department of the Antalya Security Directorate about his involvement in the PKK (the Workers’ Party of Kurdistan, an illegal organisation) and the wounding of a certain K.G. in 1992. In his nine-page statement, the applicant admitted to his involvement in the PKK and explained in detail that he had shot K.G. upon the instructions of the illegal organisation.

On 17 February 2004 the applicant was questioned again by the Antalya public prosecutor and the investigating judge. According to the statement drawn up during the questioning by the public prosecutor, the applicant had been advised of his rights again. However, the statement he gave was similar to his police statement.

Before the investigating judge, the applicant was advised of his rights again. He stated that he did not want the assistance of a lawyer and repeated the content of his police statement. The investigating judge first ordered the applicant’s release; however, following an objection by the prosecutor, he ordered that the applicant be placed in detention pending trial.

On 10 March 2004 the public prosecutor at the Izmir State Security Court filed an indictment with that court and accused the applicant of carrying out activities for the purposes of bringing about the secession of part of the national territory, an offence under Article 125 of the Criminal Code. In his indictment, the public prosecutor also indicated that the applicant had turned himself in.

During the hearings before the Izmir State Security Court the applicant was represented by a lawyer. At a hearing held on 4 May 2004, the applicant gave evidence in the presence of his lawyer and retracted the statements he had made previously. He maintained, in particular, that he had been tricked by the police into giving incriminating statements by being shown a paper in which the time-limit for prosecution of the offence he was accused of committing had expired. He denied his involvement in the shooting and rejected the accusations against him. The applicant further submitted that he did not know the co-accused, A.Y., S.K. or M.N.A.

During the same hearing, the trial court deemed it necessary to hear from people who had been tried for the same incident in a previous case, no. 1996/9, namely M.N.A., S.K. and B.Ç., with a view to verifying the defence submissions of the applicant and his co-accused, A.Y. In this connection, the trial court ordered that the necessary steps be taken to find out in which prisons M.N.A., S.K. and B.Ç. had been held and ordered an enquiry as to their addresses in the event that they had been released from prison. The trial court further ordered that a confrontation take place once the witnesses had been located. It ordered that photographs be taken of the applicant and A.Y., one from the side and the other from the front, and sent with the reports concerning the case, in the event that M.N.A., S.K. and B.Ç. were located outside its jurisdiction. If they resided in the centre of İzmir, they should be heard in person.

The trial court also ordered that the address of the victim, K.G., be ascertained with a view to bringing him before the court, so that evidence could be taken from him in person.

At a hearing held on 29 June 2004, the trial court heard evidence from S.K. as a witness. S.K. said that he neither knew nor had ever seen the applicant and A.Y. He did not have direct knowledge of K.G.’s shooting and had given his previous statement as a result of information he had obtained from M.N.A. and B.Ç. The trial court reiterated its orders concerning M.N.A., B.Ç. and K.G.

At a hearing held on 26 August 2004, A.Y.’s lawyer submitted a medical report issued by the Elazığ Psychiatric Hospital, dated 3 September 2002, which stated that M.N.A. suffered from depression. The lawyer accordingly asked the trial court not to call M.N.A. as a witness. The trial court did not respond to that request.

Under Law no. 5190 of 16 June 2004, published in the Official Gazette on 30 June 2004, State Security Courts were abolished. The case against the applicant was therefore transferred to the Izmir Assize Court.

On 19 August 2004 M.N.A. was questioned by the Siirt Assize Court, pursuant to a letter rogatory from the trial court. According to the transcript of the hearing at the Siirt Assize Court, M.N.A. was serving a sentence in the Siirt E-type Prison at that time. He explained that in 1992, together with the applicant and a certain A.Y., he had received instructions from the PKK and S.K. to shoot K.G. Accordingly, while he had secured the area, the applicant and A.Y. had gone to shoot K.G. He had heard gunshots but had not seen K.G. being shot. He further identified the applicant and A.Y. from the photographs. The Siirt Assize Court then asked M.N.A. to clarify the inconsistency between the statements he had given to the police and the public prosecutor in 1995 and those he had just given to the court. M.N.A. insisted that he was now telling them the correct version of the events. The court reminded him that in his statement of 29 November 1995 before the public prosecutor he had said that he had not known the accused, and asked him to clarify that point. M.N.A then explained that it was because he had been questioned as an accused on 29 November 1995. He repeated that he was now telling them the correct version of the events.

On 17 December 2004, at the seventh hearing, M.N.A.’s statement was read out. The applicant objected to the statement, referring to the inconsistency of M.N.A.’s statements since 1995. A.Y.’s lawyer also referred to the medical report in respect of M.N.A. and requested that his statement be considered as unreliable. The trial court did not provide a response to that request. It reiterated its orders concerning B.Ç. and K.G.

On 17 February 2005 the eighth hearing was held, and the trial court again reiterated its orders concerning B.Ç. and K.G.

At the ninth hearing on 28 April 2005 the trial court once again reiterated its orders concerning B.Ç. and K.G.

At the tenth hearing on 12 July 2005 the victim, K.G. appeared before the trial court and gave evidence as a witness. K.G. submitted that he had not seen the applicant or A.Y. at the crime scene and that they had not been involved in his shooting. He gave a detailed description of the people who had shot him.

On 4 October 2005 the Izmir Assize Court found the applicant guilty as charged and convicted him on the basis of the case file as a whole, including the record of the reconstruction of the events and the report of the photo identification.

The court accordingly sentenced the applicant to life imprisonment, under Article 125 of the former Criminal Code, for carrying out activities with the aim of bringing about the secession of part of the national territory.

On 14 February 2006 the Court of Cassation quashed the judgment and remitted the case to the first-instance court in order to determine whether the terms of the new Criminal Code, which had entered into force on 1 June 2005 (no. 5237), were more favourable for the applicant. The case was thus re-examined by the Izmir Assize Court in view of the recent legislative changes.

On 13 June 2006 the applicant’s lawyer requested that the trial court bring M.N.A before the court in order to cross-examine him directly and arrange a physical confrontation between him and the applicant. The Izmir Assize Court rejected the request on the grounds that it had already examined and rejected the same request.

On the same date the Izmir Assize Court, relying on the same pieces of evidence, once again found the applicant guilty as charged under Article 125 of the Criminal Code and sentenced him to life imprisonment.

The applicant lodged an appeal on 3 July 2003, in which his lawyer submitted, inter alia, that M.N.A.’s statements should not have been taken into consideration given the medical report on his mental state. He further submitted that the applicant had been deceived by the police and asked the Court of Cassation to declare his statements inadmissible and in contravention of Article 6 of the Convention.

On 19 December 2006 the Court of Cassation rejected the applicant’s appeal.