SECOND SECTION
Application no. 51962/12
Senanik ÖNER and Ferhan TÜRK
against Turkey
lodged on 27 June 2012
STATEMENT OF FACTS
The applicants, Mr Senanik Öner and Mr Ferhan Türk, are Turkish nationals, who were born in 1952 and 1951 respectively and live in Diyarbakır. They are represented before the Court by Mr E. Talay, a lawyer practising in Diyarbakır.
A. The circumstances of the case
The facts of the case, as submitted by the applicants, may be summarised as follows.
On 21 March 2007 the applicants attended the Newroz celebrations in Kızıltepe, a district of Mardin, and made a speech concerning the problems of Kurdish people.
Subsequently, criminal proceedings were brought against the applicants by the Kızıltepe Public Prosecutor. On 15 April 2008 the Diyarbakır Assize Court found the applicants guilty of the offence of making terrorist propaganda on behalf of an illegal organisation, the PKK (Kurdish Workers’ Party), under Article 7 § 2 of the Prevention of Terrorism Act, and sentenced them to one year and eight months’ imprisonment.
On 28 December 2011 the Court of Cassation upheld the first-instance court’s judgment. The applicant learned of this decision on 6 March 2012.
B. Relevant domestic law
A full description of the relevant domestic law may be found in Faruk Temel v. Turkey, no. 16853/05, §§ 26-27, 1 February 2011.
COMPLAINT
The applicants contended under Article 10 of the Convention that the institution of criminal proceedings against them for making a speech constituted an unjustified interference with their right to freedom of expression.
QUESTION TO THE PARTIES
Has there been a violation of the applicants’ right to freedom of expression, in particular their right to impart ideas, within the meaning of Article 10 of the Convention (see Faruk Temel v. Turkey, cited above)?
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