Ercüment Yıldız v. Turkey (46048/06)

Date	20080610
Article	5(3), 6(1)
Decision	violation

Violation of Article 5 § 3

Violation of Article 6 § 1 (length)

Ercüment Yıldız v. Turkey (no. 46048/06)

The applicant, Ercüment Yıldız, is a Turkish national who was born in 1977.

In November 1996 he was arrested and placed in pre-trial detention on suspicion of being a member of the PKK (Workers’ Party of Kurdistan), considered an illegal armed organisation. He was charged, in December 1996, with fostering territorial separatism and participating in related terrorist activities as a leading member of the organisation in question. According to the material in the file, the criminal proceedings against him are still pending. Relying on Article 5 § 3 (right to liberty and security) and Article 6 § 1 (right to a fair trial within a reasonable time), he complained about the length of his pre-trial detention and of the proceedings against him, and about the fact that he was not brought before a judge promptly after his arrest.

The Court held unanimously that there had been violations of Article 5 § 3 and Article 6 § 1 and awarded the applicant EUR 12,600 for non-pecuniary damage and EUR 1,129 for costs and expenses. (The judgment is available only in French.)