PROCEDURE

The case originated in an application (no. 13017/02) 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 a Turkish national, Mr Muammer Pakkan (“the applicant”), on 7 March 2002.

The applicant was represented by Mr M. Filorinalı and Ms Y. Başara, lawyers practising in Istanbul. The Turkish Government (“the Government”) did not designate an Agent for the purposes of the proceedings before the Court.

On 13 October 2005 the Court decided to communicate the application 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 1963 and is currently detained on remand in the Edirne F-type prison.

On 28 November 1992 the applicant was taken into police custody by police officers from the Anti-Terrorism Department of the Istanbul Security Directorate. On 10 December 1992 the Istanbul State Security Court ordered his detention on remand.

On 5 January 1993 the Public Prosecutor at the Istanbul State Security Court filed an indictment against the applicant and twenty-nine others, charging them with membership of an illegal left-wing organisation, contrary to Article 146 of the Criminal Code and Article 5 of the Law on Prevention of Terrorism.

At the hearing of 22 November 1993 before the Istanbul State Security Court, which included a military judge, the accused protested against the proceedings by shouting slogans in the hearing room. Following the intervention of the security forces, they broke the windows of the court building.

At the hearings held between 1993 and 1994 the court heard the testimony of several witnesses and took the statements of the accused.

On 18 June 1999 the Constitution was amended and the military judges sitting on the bench of State Security Courts were replaced by civilian judges.

At the end of almost every hearing the court dismissed the applicant’s request to be released pending trial and ordered his continued detention on remand, having regard to the nature of the offence and the content of the case file. At the hearings during which the applicant was absent the court considered his situation of its own motion and ordered his detention on remand, relying on the same reasons.

At the hearing of 27 March 2000 the court finished taking the final statements of almost all the accused including the applicant and stated that no additional time would be given to those who had not yet submitted their final observations.

On 30 July 2001 the applicant filed a petition with a different chamber of the Istanbul State Security Court, complaining about the court’s order for his continued remand in custody. On 1 August 2001 his objection was dismissed on account of the nature of the offence and the content of the case file.

By 12 October 2001 fifty-five hearings had been held before the Istanbul State Security Court and the judges on the bench of the court had been changed on six occasions.

State Security Courts were abolished by constitutional amendments introduced on 7 May 2004. As a result, all of the procedural safeguards provided for by the ordinary criminal procedure henceforth became applicable to all proceedings without exception.

On 27 October 2004 the Istanbul Assize Court found the applicant guilty of the charges and sentenced him to life imprisonment.

On 13 July 2005 the Court of Cassation quashed the decision of the State Security Court on procedural grounds.

The case is still pending before the Istanbul Assize Court and the applicant is still in detention on remand. The latest hearing was held on 2 December 2005.