Penalty of Çomak Pending Trial in Custody for 24 Years Upheld

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Arrested while he was a student in Faculty of Fine Arts at İstanbul University in 1994 on charge of “being a member of an illegal organization”, first sentenced to capital punishment in 2000 by State Security Court and then to lifetime imprisonment, İlhan Çomak’s sentence of lifetime imprisonment has been upheld second time by the Supreme Court.

After he received sentence in 2000, Çomak applied to the European Court of Human Rights (ECtHR). The ECtHR had ruled that Çomak “wasn’t tried fairly”. In 2013, Çomak was tried again and he was imposed the same sentence, which has been upheld by the Supreme Court for the second time.

Decision of Çağlayan Courthouse 4th Heavy Penal Court, which ruled the lifetime imprisonment for the second time for Çomak, was upheld by Supreme Court 16th Penal Chamber today (April 4).

Born in 1973 in Bingöl, Çomak has four poetry books. (ŞA/TK)