Constitutional Court Rejects Application of Journalist Ataman
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The Constitutional Court has rejected journalist Ziya Ataman's application that claimed his rights to "personal safety and freedom" and "a fair trial."
The verdict dated on April 16 said, "It is understood that there is not a violation regarding the guarantees in Article 19 of the Constitution."
"The application clearly baseless in terms of the claim that the person's rights to freedom and safety is violated because the arrest is not lawful and the period of arrest is not reasonable," the verdict said.
MLSA will appeal to the ECtHR
Barış Oflas, an attorney for Ataman and a member of the Media and Law Studies Association (MLSA) said, "Ziya Ataman has been arrested for three years. It is already known that Ziya Ataman is targeted because of his journalism activities. Despite such a long arrest period, it is really inconceivable to find our application 'baseless'. But this verdict also means that the domestic remedies are exhausted. We will make our application to the European Court of Human Rights (ECtHR) as soon as possible."
"We will continue our quest for justice for Ziya"
Attorney Veysel Ok from the MLSA said, "The reason that lies behind the arrest of our client is the activities of journalism he did in the region. He has been held in prison without concrete evidence in his file. With this verdict, our way to make an application to the EctHR is open. We will continue our quest for justice for Ziya by using international mechanisms. We are hopeful regarding the ECtHR."
What happened?Ziya Ataman, who was an intern correspondent at the Dicle News Agency (DİHA), was taken into custody in Turkey's eastern province of Van. Ataman, who was detained during news follow-up in Kurubaş Neighborhood in the district of Edremit in Van, was arrested on April 11, 2016. The indictment against Ataman was issued in December 2017, 20 months after his arrest. Ataman had his first hearing in March 2018. Upon a technical fault that occured in the Audio and Visual Information System (SEGBİS), the journalist could make a defense for only a few minutes at his second hearing. The third hearing of Ataman was held on August 1, 2018. The court board ruled that the arrest of Ataman shall continue. |
(AS/VK)