In a judgment published on Tuesday 29 June, the European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) condemned Turkey for the arrest, pre-trial detention and search of the home of a former Constitutional Court judge arrested in the aftermath of the July 2016 coup attempt.
Accused of belonging to an armed terrorist organisation (FETÖ/FDY), Erdal Tercan was arrested and sentenced solely on the basis of suspicions and without any respect for the procedural guarantees granted to the judiciary in order to protect the judiciary from the attacks of the executive, the judges unanimously stated.
Moreover, they add, the extension of the notion of “flagrante delicto” underlying the Tercan case has legal consequences that go beyond the state of emergency and could affect other persons with judicial immunity, such as members of parliament.
Several paragraphs of Article 5 of the European Convention on Human Rights (right to liberty and security) and Article 8 (right to respect for the home) were violated by Turkey, the Court found, ordering the payment of 20,000 euros to Mr Tercan for non-pecuniary damage. (Original version in French by Véronique Leblanc)