PROCEDURE

The case originated in an application (no. 74552/01) 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, Ms Oya Ataman (“the applicant”) on 15 March 2001.

The applicant was represented by Mr G. Şan, of the Istanbul Bar. The Turkish Government (“the Government”) did not appoint an Agent for the purposes of the proceedings before the Court.

On 8 March 2005 the Court declared the application partly inadmissible and decided to communicate the complaints under Articles 3 and 11 of the Convention 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

I. THE CIRCUMSTANCES OF THE CASE

The applicant was born in 1970 and lives in Istanbul.

On 22 April 2000 the applicant, a lawyer and member of the administrative board of the Istanbul Human Rights Association, organised a demonstration in Sultanahmet Square in Istanbul, in the form of a march followed by a statement to the press, to protest against plans for “F-type” prisons.

At about 12 noon a group of forty to fifty persons brandishing placards and signs gathered in the square, under the leadership of the applicant and Eren Keskin, a lawyer and President of the Istanbul Human Rights Association. The police asked the group to disperse and to end the gathering, and informed them via a loudspeaker that the demonstration, for which advance notice had not been submitted, was unlawful and was likely to cause public-order problems at a busy time of day.

The demonstrators refused to obey and attempted to continue marching towards the police, who dispersed the group using a kind of tear gas known as “pepper spray”. The police arrested thirty-nine demonstrators, including the applicant, and took them to a police station.

After an identity check, and in view of her profession, the applicant was released at 12.45 p.m.

On 26 April 2000 the applicant lodged a criminal complaint with the Beyoğlu prosecutor’s office against the head of the Istanbul security police and the police officers concerned, alleging that she had been ill-treated through the use of pepper spray, unlawfully arrested and prevented from making the public statement scheduled for the end of the demonstration.

On 29 June 2000 the public prosecutor’s office discontinued the proceedings on the ground that no offence had been committed.

On 25 July 2000 the applicant applied to the Beyoğlu Assize Court seeking to have that decision set aside.

On 25 September 2000 the Assize Court upheld the decision that there was no case to answer.