POLITICS

The European rights court rules Turkey’s jailing of a UN judge after a coup attempt was unlawful

Apr 23, 2024, 7:33 AM

ISTANBUL (AP) — A United Nations judge was unlawfully jailed when he was arrested in Turkey in the wake of a 2016 coup attempt despite holding diplomatic immunity, the European Court of Human Rights said Tuesday.

The court ruled that Aydin Sefa Akay’s “arrest, pre-trial detention, search of his house and person had been unlawful.” It said his detention was extended despite letters from the U.N. stating his entitlement to diplomatic immunity and requests for his release and an end to the case against him.

The court added that Akay’s right to liberty, security and respect for private life had been violated and ordered Turkey to pay him 28,100 euros ($29,955) in damages and costs.

But it rejected his call to be released as the findings only concerned his pre-trial detention, not his current imprisonment. Akay was convicted of terrorism in June 2017 and sentenced to seven years and six months in prison.

The conviction was upheld in February 2021, more than two years after his term as a U.N. judge had ended, and Akay, who is in his mid-70s, is now serving his sentence in Rize prison on the Black Sea coast. The European court said his current incarceration stemmed from the 2021 decision.

Akay, a former legal adviser at the Turkish Foreign Ministry and representative to the Council of Europe, was working as a judge for the U.N. Criminal Tribunals Mechanism when he was detained at his home in Istanbul. He was among thousands of Turks rounded up in a clampdown on the group that Ankara blamed for the failed military coup in July 2016,

He was indicted for membership in an armed terrorist organization, namely a group led by the U.S.-based preacher Fethullah Gulen.

The Turkish authorities have designated the Gulen movement as a terror group which they label the Fethullahist Terror Organization.

Gulen, who lives in Pennsylvania, denies any involvement in the coup attempt, which saw more than 250 people killed as rogue troops stormed Istanbul’s Bosphorus Bridge and bombed targets in the capital in Ankara, including the parliament.

Turkey has three months to request the judgment be referred to a higher court chamber.

The European Court of Human Rights is based in Strasbourg, France, and oversees allegations of civil and political rights violations.

Politics

FILE - Rep. Mariannette Miller-Meeks, R-Iowa, speaks with local farmers on the set of the Barn Talk...

Associated Press

Bohannan requests a recount in Iowa’s close congressional race as GOP wins control of House

DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) — The Democrat looking to unseat an incumbent Republican in a close Iowa congressional race, one of a handful yet to be called after Republicans won control of the U.S. House, has asked for a recount. Democrat Christina Bohannan’s campaign on Thursday requested the recount in her bid against Republican incumbent […]

5 minutes ago

This combination of images from video shows scenes from Nasonex television commercials broadcast in...

Associated Press

New FDA rules for TV drug ads: Simpler language and no distractions

WASHINGTON (AP) — Those ever-present TV drug ads showing patients hiking, biking or enjoying a day at the beach could soon have a different look: New rules require drugmakers to be clearer and more direct when explaining their medications’ risks and side effects. The U.S. Food and Drug Administration spent more than 15 years crafting […]

32 minutes ago

FILE - Republican presidential nominee former President Donald Trump visits Sprankle's Neighborhood...

Associated Press

Food prices worried most voters, but Trump’s plans likely won’t lower their grocery bills

Americans are fed up with the price of food, and many are looking to President-elect Donald Trump to lower their grocery bills. Trump often railed on the campaign trail against hefty price increases for bacon, cereal, crackers and other items. “We’ll get them down,” he told shoppers during a September visit to a Pennsylvania grocery […]

44 minutes ago

Associated Press

Video ‘bares’ all: Insurers say bear that damaged luxury cars was actually a person in a costume

LOS ANGELES (AP) — California has seen its share of bears breaking into cars. But bears caught on camera entering luxury cars tipped off insurers that something wasn’t quite right. In what it’s dubbed “Operation Bear Claw,” the California Insurance Department said four Los Angeles residents were arrested Wednesday, accused of defrauding three insurance companies […]

1 hour ago

Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin speaks during a joint press briefing with South Korean Defense Minis...

Associated Press

Suicides in the US military increased in 2023, continuing a long-term trend

WASHINGTON (AP) — Suicides in the U.S. military increased in 2023, continuing a long-term trend that the Pentagon has struggled to abate, senior defense officials said. The increase is a bit of a setback after the deaths dipped slightly the previous year. Officials said both the number of suicides and the rate per 100,000 active-duty […]

2 hours ago

President Joe Biden speaks at the Classroom to Career Summit in the East Room of the White House in...

Associated Press

Biden heads to international summits in Peru and Brazil as world leaders brace for Trump presidency

WASHINGTON (AP) — President Joe Biden begins his six-day visit to Peru and Brazil on Thursday for the final major international summits of his presidency, while world leaders turn their attention to what Donald Trump ‘s return to the White House means for their countries. The visit to the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation summit in Peru […]

3 hours ago

The European rights court rules Turkey’s jailing of a UN judge after a coup attempt was unlawful