Communicated on 13 June 2017
SECOND SECTION
Application no. 68496/10
Mehmet BERK
against Turkey
lodged on 14 October 2010
SUBJECT MATTER OF THE CASE
The application concerns the absence of a lawyer while the applicant gave his police statements, which the domestic court relied on in sentencing him to life imprisonment for disrupting the unity and integrity of the State through armed acts.
The case also raises an issue with regard to the validity of the applicant’s waiver of his right to legal assistance.
QUESTIONS tO THE PARTIES
1. Did the applicant have a fair hearing in the determination of the criminal charges against him, in accordance with Article 6 § 1 of the Convention?
In particular, has there been a breach of Article 6 § 3 (c) of the Convention, in conjunction with Article 6 § 1, as a result of the lack of legal assistance available to the applicant during his detention in police custody (see Salduz v. Turkey [GC], no. 36391/02, ECHR 2008, and Ibrahim and Others v. the United Kingdom [GC], nos. 50541/08 and 3 others, ECHR 2016)? In this connection, could he be considered to have waived his right to legal assistance in an unequivocal manner before his interview by the police at the Anti-Terrorism Branch of the Istanbul Directorate of Security (see Yoldaş v. Turkey, no. 27503/04, 23 February 2010)?
2. The Government are further invited to submit copies of all the relevant documents concerning the criminal proceedings against the applicant, including but not limited to the minutes of all interviews conducted during the preliminary investigation stage, the minutes of all the hearings, the reasoned judgments of the trial court, the evidence against the applicant and the written submissions of the applicant and his lawyer throughout the proceedings.
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