Published on 18 December 2023
SECOND SECTION
Application no. 7004/21
Engin GÖKOĞLU against Türkiye
and 5 other applications
(see list appended)
communicated on 27 November 2023
SUBJECT MATTER OF THE CASE
The applications concern the refusal of the prison administrations to hand over to the applicants, who were detained in a prison, various publications sent to them by post. The applicants’ objections against those decisions before the relevant enforcement judges and assize courts were unsuccessful. Subsequently, the Constitutional Court declared their complaint concerning a breach of their right to freedom of expression inadmissible for being manifestly ill-founded. That court considered the refusal to hand over the publications to the applicants justified not because of the content of the publications, but because of the manner of their reception at the respective prisons.
Relying on Article 10 of the Convention the applicants complained of a violation of their right to freedom of expression.
QUESTIONS TO THE PARTIES
1. Has there been an interference with the applicants’ freedom of expression, in particular their right to receive information and ideas, within the meaning of Article 10 § 1 of the Convention, due to the refusal of the prison administrations to hand over to the applicants, who were detained in a prison, various publications sent to them by post?
2. If so, was that interference prescribed by law and necessary in terms of Article 10 § 2?
3. In particular, did the national courts, in their decisions in the present cases, adequately balance the applicants’ right to freedom of expression against other interests at stake in accordance with the principles enshrined in Article 10 of the Convention (see Mehmet Çiftci v. Turkey, no. 53208/19, §§ 35-45, 16 November 2021; and Osman and Altay v. Türkiye, nos. 23782/20 and 40731/20, §§ 43-59, 13 July 2023)?
APPENDIX
List of cases:
No.
Application no.
Case name
Lodged on
Applicant
Year of Birth
Place of Residence
Represen-ted by
Nationality
1.
7004/21
Gökoğlu v. Türkiye
21/12/2020
Engin GÖKOĞLU
1985
Tekirdağ
Turkish
2.
14071/21
Bektaş v. Türkiye
23/02/2021
İbrahim BEKTAŞ
1990
Bodrum
Turkish
3.
9250/22
İnan v. Türkiye
24/01/2022
Barış İNAN
1973
Kocaeli
Faruk Nafiz ERTEKIN
Turkish
4.
11475/22
İnan v. Türkiye
16/02/2022
Barış İNAN
1973
Kocaeli
Faruk Nafiz ERTEKIN
Turkish
5.
13061/22
İnan v. Türkiye
28/02/2022
Barış İNAN
1973
Kocaeli
Faruk Nafiz ERTEKIN
Turkish
6.
14765/22
Emen v. Türkiye
22/02/2022
Habil EMEN
1968
Şanlıurfa
Turkish
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