Published on 8 July 2024
SECOND SECTION
Application no. 30830/22
Selman TUTUMLU
against Türkiye
lodged on 10 June 2022
communicated on 20 June 2024
SUBJECT MATTER OF THE CASE
At the time of the events, the applicant was a member of the Democratic Society Congress (Demokratik Toplum Kongresi, “DTK”) in the province of Gaziantep. The application concerns the applicant’s pre-trial detention in the context of a criminal investigation opened against him for membership of a terrorist organisation, namely the PKK (Kurdistan Workers’ Party, an illegal armed organisation).
The applicant alleges that his pre-trial detention violated Article 5 §§ 1 and 3 of the Convention. He further complains that this detention, as well as the criminal proceedings against him, breached Articles 10 and 11 of the Convention.
QUESTIONS TO THE PARTIES
1. Was the applicant’s pre-trial detention compatible with the requirements of Article 5 § 1 of the Convention? In particular, can the applicant be considered to have been detained on the basis of “a reasonable suspicion” that he had committed an offence, within the meaning of Article 5 § 1 (c) of the Convention (see, in particular, Fox, Campbell and Hartley v. the United Kingdom, 30 August 1990, § 32, Series A no. 182)? Was the evidence that was available in the file at the time of the applicant’s pre-trial detention sufficient to satisfy an objective observer that he may have committed the offences attributed to him (see, mutatis mutandis, Mergen and Others v. Turkey, nos. 44062/09 and 4 others, §§ 46-55, 31 May 2016, and Yüksel and Others v. Turkey, nos. 55835/09 and 2 others, §§ 51-60, 31 May 2016)?
2. Did the magistrates who ordered the applicant’s initial and continued pre-trial detention fulfil their obligation under Article 5 § 3 of the Convention to provide relevant and sufficient grounds in support of the deprivation of liberty in question? In addition, was the length of the applicant’s pre-trial detention in breach of the “reasonable time” requirement under Article 5 § 3 of the Convention (see, in particular, Buzadji v. the Republic of Moldova [GC], no. 23755/07, §§ 84-102, 5 July 2016)?
3. Was there an interference with the applicant’s freedom of expression and/or assembly and association within the meaning of Articles 10 and 11 of the Convention, due to his placement in pre-trial detention and the criminal proceedings against him? If so, was this interference prescribed by law and necessary in a democratic society (see, mutatis mutandis, Nedim Şener v. Turkey, no. 38270/11, §§ 92-119, 8 July 2014, and Lütfiye Zengin and Others v. Turkey, no. 36443/06, §§ 44-58, 14 April 2015)?