ELCI AND OTHERS v. TURKEY JUDGMENT
120
speculative. They emphasised that any award of just satisfaction could only
be made on an equitable basis, avoiding unjust enrichment.
720. The Court notes that the claims of the applicants Tahir Elçi,
Sabahattin Acar, Mesut Beştaş, Vedat Erten, Hüsniye Ölmez, İmam Şahin
and Arzu Şahin refer to the whole of their detention, both in
police/gendarme custody and in detention on remand ordered by a court.
However, the Court has only found a violation of Article 5 § 1 of the
Convention in respect of the applicants' detention prior to their being
brought before a court. So instead of 85 to 94 days spent in unlawful
custody, or 58 days in respect of Mr and Mrs Şahin, Mr Elçi spent 17 days,
Mr Acar 25 days, Mr Beştaş 24 days, Mr Erten 17 days, Ms Ölmez 24 days,
and Mr and Mrs Şahin 14 days.
721. In any event, it considers the applicants' claims to be excessive in
the light of their limited legal experience at the time, the statement of
several of them to the Commission Delegates that they had had difficulty
finding any work, hence they had been obliged to act as criminal defence
lawyers before the State Security Court as their main activity, and the
standard of living in south east Turkey. However, it is clear that there was
some loss of earnings during the applicants' detention which has been found
to violate Article 5 of the Convention and that a recuperation period was
required after their stressful experience in order to restore their health and
their clients' confidence. In these circumstances, the Court decides on
equitable basis, as required by Article 41 of the Convention, that the
applicants should receive the following in pecuniary damage:
- Tahir Elçi, 1,510 euros (“EUR”);
- Nevzat Kaya, EUR 1660;
- Şinasi Tur, EUR 1,750;
- Sabahattin Acar, EUR 1,750;
- Niyazi Çem, EUR 1,510;
- Mehmet Selim Kurbanoğlu, EUR 1,600;
- Meral Daniş Beştaş, EUR 1,720;
- Mesut Beştaş, EUR 1,720;
- Vedat Erten, EUR 1,510;
- Baki Demırhan, EUR 1,720;
- Arif Altinkalem, EUR 1,720;
- Gazanfer Abbasioğlu, EUR 1,300;
- Fuat Hayri Demır, EUR 1,210;
- Hüsniye Ölmez, EUR 1,720;
- İmam Şahin, EUR 1,420; and
- Arzu Şahin, EUR 1,420.
722. The sums awarded in the preceding paragraph are to be paid into
the bank account indicated in the applicants' just satisfaction claim.
Sélectionner le paragraphe cible3
Se connecter à un paragraphe
Connect to an entity
Disable highlights
Ajouter à la table des matières