PROCEDURE

The case originated in an application (no. 4489/02) 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 six Turkish nationals, Mr Ertuğrul Saraçoğlu, Mr Göksel Avcı, Mr Ali Kemal Mart, Ms Oya Aslan, Mr Ulaş Aday and Mr Şerif Güneş (“the applicants”), on 27 September 2001.

The applicants were represented by Mr F. Korkmaz and Mr N. Eren, lawyers practising in Diyarbakır. The Turkish Government (“the Government”) did not designate an Agent for the purposes of the proceedings before the Court.

On 12 April 2006 the Court decided to give notice of 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 applicants were born in 1978, 1977, 1979, 1983, 1980 and 1978 respectively and live in Antalya.

On 27 April 2001 the applicants were taken into custody by police officers from the Anti-Terrorism Branch of the Diyarbakır Security Directorate. According to the arrest and search protocols, the applicants were arrested in the course of a police operation carried out against an illegal organisation, namely the DHKP‑C (the Revolutionary People's Liberation Party-Front) as they were considered to be involved in the activities of this organisation at the university.

On 29 April 2001 the deputy director of the Anti-Terrorism Branch of the Diyarbakır Security Directorate requested the public prosecutor at the Diyarbakır State Security Court to extend the applicants' custody period for two days. The public prosecutor at the Diyarbakır State Security Court granted the requested extension.

On 1 May 2001 the Diyarbakır Security Directorate requested the Diyarbakır State Security Court to extend the custody period for a further six days. The single judge of the State Security Court duly extended the custody period for six days starting from 1 May 2001.

On 3 May 2001 the applicants made statements before the police.

On 4 May 2001 the applicants were brought before a doctor, who noted that there were no signs of ill-treatment on their bodies.

On the same day, the applicants made statements before the public prosecutor at the Diyarbakır State Security Court and subsequently, a single judge of the state security court, who ordered that Ertuğrul Saraçoğlu, Göksel Avcı, and Ali Kemal Mart be detained on remand and the other applicants be released. Before the judge, one of the applicants, Göksel Avcı alleged that he had been subjected to ill-treatment while in custody.

On 8 May 2001 the applicants' representative filed an objection with the court requesting that Ertuğrul Saraçoğlu, Göksel Avcı and Ali Kemal Mart be released. In his petition, the representative maintained, inter alia, that the applicants had been subjected to different types of ill-treatment while in custody. He alleged that the applicants had been beaten, deprived of food and water, that their testicles had been squeezed and electric shocks had been administered.

On 11 May 2001 the public prosecutor at the Diyarbakır State Security Court filed a bill of indictment charging the applicants with membership of the DHKP-C under Article 168 § 2 of the Criminal Code and Article 5 of Law no. 3713.

On 4 July 2001 the Diyarbakır State Security Court ordered the applicants' release pending trial, holding that the relevant evidence had been collected and that the applicants were students and had to take their exams at the university.

The applicants maintained before the trial court that they had signed their statements under duress while in police custody. Göksel Avcı reiterated his allegation of ill-treatment.

On 24 January 2002 the Diyarbakır State Security Court acquitted the applicants of the charges against them.

On 21 March 2002 the judgment of the first-instance court became final as neither the public prosecutor nor the applicants filed an appeal against it.

On 24 April 2002 three of the applicants, namely Ali Kemal Mart, Göksel Avcı and Ertuğrul Saraçoğlu, together with another person M.D., who had also been in police custody with the applicants between 27 April and 4 May 2001, initiated proceedings before the Diyarbakır Assize Court and requested compensation for the time they had spent in police custody. On 10 December 2003 the court awarded 500,000,000 Turkish liras (TRL) –approximately 300 euros- each to Ali Kemal Mart, Göksel Avcı, Ertuğrul Saraçoğlu and TRL 250,000,000 to M.D. in respect of non-pecuniary compensation.