STRASBOURG (AA) - The European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) Grand Chamber will be holding a public hearing on May 12th to deliver a judgment regarding the case of Abdullah Ocalan, head of terrorist organization PKK, sources told the A.A on Wednesday.
     If the ECHR rules that the right to fair trial is violated, the issue of a possible retrial of Ocalan in Turkey will be discussed at the Committee of Ministers, the higher body of the Council of Europe (COE).
     Evaluation of the case by the Committee of Ministers is expected to last for at least a year.
     Debates at the Committee of Ministers over a decision of the ECHR about Greek Cypriot Titiana Loizidou (against Turkey in 1998), lasted for nearly five years.
     Lawyers of Ocalan lodged an application with the ECHR on February 16th, 1999. A hearing was held on November 21st, 2000 and the case was declared partly admissible on December 14th, 2000. The Grand Chamber listened to testimonies of the parties at another hearing on June 9th, 2004.
     In its judgment of March 12th, 2003, the Court decided that there had been a violation of Article 6 concerning the right to a fair trial; Article 5 on lawful detention; and Article 3 on degrading treatment, on account of the fact that the death penalty had been imposed (on Ocalan) after an unfair trial.
     ECHR did not consider fair enough the replacement of the military judge by a civilian judge, and ruled that lawyers were not given adequate time and opportunity to prepare their plea.
     The Court also rejected complaints about the fact that Ocalan was brought in from Kenya by illegal means, and he was subject to discrimination.
     Ocalan was captured in Kenya and brought to Turkey on February 15th, 1999.
     On June 29th, 1999, the Ankara State Security Court (DGM) found him guilty of conspiracy aiming to separate part of Turkish territory and of forming and leading an armed terror organization to achieve his goal. The court sentenced him to death, according to Article 125 of the Criminal Code. That decision was upheld by the Court of Cassation.
     Under Law no: 4771, published on August 29th, 2002, the Turkish parliament decided to abolish the death penalty in peacetime. On October 3rd, 2002 Ankara State Security Court commuted Ocalan's death sentence to life imprisonment.

2005-05-11