Published on 1 July 2024
SECOND SECTION
Application no. 12368/23
Cihan GÜMÜŞ
against Türkiye
lodged on 8 March 2023
communicated on 13 June 2024
SUBJECT MATTER OF THE CASE
The application concerns criminal proceedings conducted against the applicant on charges of his membership of a terrorist organisation, namely FETÖ/PDY (“Fetullahist Terror Organisation/Parallel State Structure”), which resulted in his conviction to six years and eight months’ imprisonment pursuant to Article 314 § 2 of the Criminal Code.
The conviction was based on the following evidence: (i) the testimony of an anonymous witness, stating that the applicant was a member with duties within the organisation, (ii) account activities in Bank Asya, (iii) the applicant’s previous employment in certain companies allegedly linked with FETÖ/PDY.
Relying on Article 6 § 1 of the Convention, the applicant claims that the domestic courts’ judgments convicting him lacked sufficient reasons and that the proceedings breached the principles of equality of arms and adversarial proceedings. In particular, he claims that his arguments concerning the witness statements were not taken into account and that he was not able to effectively challenge their content.
QUESTIONS TO THE PARTIES
Did the applicant have a fair hearing in the determination of the criminal charge against him, in accordance with Article 6 § 1 of the Convention? In particular: Were the principles of equality of arms and an adversarial hearing respected during the criminal proceedings brought against the applicant (Borisova v. Bulgaria, no. 56891/00, §§ 47-48, 21 December 2006, and Topić v. Croatia, no. 51355/10, §§ 40-49, 10 October 2013)? Was the applicant able to examine the prosecution witnesses as required by Article 6 §§ 1 and 3 (d) of the Convention (see Al‑Khawaja and Tahery v. the United Kingdom [GC], nos. 26766/05 and 22228/06, §§ 118-147, ECHR 2011; Schatschaschwili v. Germany [GC], no. 9154/10, §§ 100-131, ECHR 2015; Ürek and Ürek v. Turkey, no. 74845/12, § 49, 30 July 2019, and Süleyman v. Turkey, no. 59453/10, §§ 61-66, 17 November 2020)? Did the domestic courts provide sufficient reasons in their judgments to convict him of membership of an armed terrorist organisation under Article 314 § 2 of the Criminal Code (see Moreira Ferreira v. Portugal (no. 2) [GC], no. 19867/12, §§ 83-84, 11 July 2017)? Did the trial court’s reasoned judgment contain a sufficiently individualised assessment in respect of the applicant?
The Government are invited to submit copies of all the relevant documents concerning the applicant’s case, including but not limited to the minutes of all the hearings, the reasoned judgment of the trial court, documentary evidence against the applicant, and the written submissions of the applicant and his lawyer throughout the proceedings.