Tekelioğlu v. Turkey (16139/03)

Date	20080527
Article	6(1)
Decision	violation

Violation of Article 6 § 1 (fairness)

Tekelioğlu v. Turkey (no. 16139/03)

The applicant, Cahit Tekelioğlu, is a Turkish national who was born in 1951 and lives in Ankara (Turkey).

In January 2001, during a debate in the Turkish Grand National Assembly, broadcast live on television, the applicant, a member of the Assembly, was insulted by members from another political party. A dispute broke out between him and F.Ş., another member, and the two men exchanged blows. Shortly after this exchange, F.Ş. had a heart attack in the foyer of the Assembly. In February 2002 the applicant was sentenced to two years and nine months’ imprisonment for assault against the person of F.Ş., resulting in his unintended death. That judgment was upheld on cassation appeal in October 2002. Relying, among other things, on Article 6 § 1 (right to a fair trial), the applicant complained of the unfairness of the proceedings brought against him.

The Court referred back to its examination of a similar complaint in other cases, where it had found a violation of Article 6 § 1. It thus held, unanimously, that there had been a violation of that Article on account of the failure to provide the applicant with a copy of Principal State Counsel’s opinion, and that the finding of a violation constituted in itself sufficient just satisfaction for the non-pecuniary damage sustained by the applicant. The Court awarded Mr Tekelioğlu EUR 1,000 for costs and expenses. (The judgment is available only in French.)