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STRASBOURG, May 19 (AFP) - 19h45 - The European
Court of Human Rights condemned Turkey on Thursday
for violating the freedom of expression in two
separate cases, one of them regarding an article of
minority Kurds.
The court ruled in favor of Teslim Tore, who was
sentenced to one year, one month and 10 days in
prison for "disseminating separatist propaganda" in
a 1994 article entitled "Kurdistan's socialists must
seize the moment."
"Finding that the severity of the applicant's
sentence was disproportionate and not necessary in a
democratic society, the European Court of Human
Rights held, unanimously, that there had been a
violation of Article 10" on freedom of expression,
the court's registrar said.
It also ruled that the state security court that
sentenced Tore could not be considered independent
and impartial, and ordered Turkey to pay 310 euros
(390 dollars) in material damages, 6,500 euros in
moral damages, and 3,000 euros in legal costs.
The Strasbourg-based court also ruled in favor of
Talat Turhan, who was sentenced to pay damages to a
senior Turkish official for passages in his book
"Extraordinary War, Terror and Counter-terrorism"
which a Turkish court ruled defamatory.
The European court said the sentence amounted to a
violation of freedom of expression because
statements on the official were "value judgments on
an issue of public interest.
"The Court reiterated that the truthfulness of a
value judgment was not susceptible of proof and that
the value judgment made by the applicant was based
on information which was already known to the
general public."
It ordered the Turkish state to pay Turhan 600 euros
(760 dollars) in material damages, 1,000 euros
(1,300 dollars) in moral damages, and 1,500 euros
(1,900 dollars) in legal costs.
AFP
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