In 2003, Turkey passed a European Union harmonization law that stipulates that ECtHR rulings are a basis for retrials. However, the law was enforced only regarding trials after February 2003, when Turkey adopted the aforementioned law. With the government's decision, the non-retroactivity of the 2003 harmonization law will be removed. In other words, individuals who would like to appeal a court process based on ECtHR rulings against Turkey will be able to do so. This decision was made at a Cabinet meeting on Tuesday.
Deputy Prime Minister Cemil Çiçek said most of the ECtHR rulings between 1995 and 2003 which were against Turkey were on the violation of property rights as many villages in Turkey's Southeast were evacuated by the state due to outlawed Kurdis-tan Workers' Party (PKK) terrorism.
“Now, a legal amendment is to be made which will make the retrial of those cases possible,” Çiçek said. The government's latest move to make retrials possible based on ECtHR rulings before 2003 brought to mind the question of whether the retrial of the outlawed Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK) leader Abdullah Öcalan would be possible. Öcalan, who was captured in 1999, was initially sentenced to death. In 2002 Turkey commuted his death sentence to life as it abolished the death penalty as part of its efforts to harmonize with the EU.
Strongly rejecting the prospect of Öcalan's retrial, Çiçek ruled out the possibility of a retrial for Öcalan, stressing that the scope of the amendment does not include Öcalan.“Öcalan's retrial is absolutely out of the question,” Çiçek said.
“[In an 11-6 ruling in 2003,] the ECtHR found that Öcalan's trial ‘was not tried by an independent and impartial tribunal' and had violated European conventions on human rights. The court demanded Öcalan's retrial. Upon this ruling, Öcalan's lawyers appealed to Ankara Criminal Court for Öcalan's retrial. The court rejected their appeal due to an exceptional article in Turkey's Code on Criminal Procedure (CMK). The lawyers then took the case to a higher court in İstanbul. The İstanbul Criminal Court demanded Öcalan's dossier and concluded that a retrial was unnecessary because Öcalan would still be given the same sentence if he is tried again. So, the ECtHR's decision foreseeing retrial of Öcalan was fulfilled. The decision was recognized by the Committee of Ministers of the Council of Europe and found appropriate by the ECtHR as well. So, Öcalan's retrial fell from the agenda of the ECtHR. This latest amendment has nothing to do with Öcalan. Turkey fulfilled the ECtHR ruling regarding Öcalan's retrial in 2005,” explained Çiçek.
In the meantime, the Cabinet also agreed on a bill on Tuesday regarding children who face harsh penalties for throwing stones at police in illegal demonstrations. According to the bill, those children who are under the age of 18 will no longer be tried in criminal courts. If they do not commit the same offense within five years, they will not be imprisoned.
