The European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) decided on the appeal of Ahmet Şık, who was elected as a member of parliament after being arrested and released as part of the operation against former writers and employees of Cumhuriyet newspaper. The ECtHR, which ruled the application of Cumhuriyet newspaper's other writers and employees who were arrested and gave a decision of "violation of rights", said that there is a "violation of rights" for Şık's application too.

 

In the decision ECHR made with 7 votes against 1, it was ruled that 5th and 10th articles of the European Convention of Human's Rights were violated. Turkey will pay 16 thousand Euros to Şık according to the decision.

 

ŞIK: IT'S AN ASSURANCE TO THE AKP REGIME

 

Member of Parliament Ahmet Şık commented on the decision from his Twitter account and said: "The fact that the decision of ECHR is lawful does not cover up the fact that it is also political. The showpiece decisions issued by the ECHR is an assurance for the AKP regime which seizes the legal guarantee of those who are not one of them, or those who they see as enemies. It means that they are saying to a whole country that you will keep living like a hostage without your legal guarantees. The fact that they do not apply any sanctions to a country while even the courts of first instance do not recognize their decisions, which are superior to domestic law is an indication of it. To sum up, the reputation of ECHR is just like the reputation of the judiciary of Turkey invaded by mafia."