ELCI AND OTHERS v. TURKEY JUDGMENT
109
25 days, when they were interrogated about these allegations and confronted
with Mr Güven. The detention dates established by the Court, despite slight
discrepancies concerning certain applicants, are as follows:
Tahir Elçi
İmam Şahin
Arzu Şahin
Nevzat Kaya
Şinasi Tur
Sabahattin Acar
Niyazi Çem
Mehmet Selim
Kurbanoğlu
Meral Daniş Beştaş
Mesut Beştaş
Vedat Erten
Baki Demırhan
Arif Altinkalem
Gazanfer Abbasioğlu
Fuat Hayri Demır
Hüsniye Ölmez,
Dates of detention in Number of days
police / gendarme
custody
23.11.93 - 10.12.93
17
07.12.93 - 21.12.93
14
07.12.93 - 21.12.93
14
18.11.93 - 10.12.93
22
15.11.93 - 10.12.93
25
15.11.93 - 10.12.93
25
23.11.93 - 10.12.93
17
20.11.93 - 10.12.93
20
16.11.93 - 10.12.93
16.11.93 - 10.12.93
23.11.93 - 10.12.93
16.11.93 - 10.12.93
16.11.93 - 10.12.93
30.11.93 - 10.12.93
03.12.93 - 10.12.93
16.11.93 - 10.12.93
24
24
17
24
24
10
7
24
672. The Government contended that, because of the claims of
Mr. Güven, there existed a reasonable suspicion that those applicants cited
by him had committed terrorist-related offences, which required further
investigation and justified their detention. The applicants argued that the
fleeting references to them in the statements of a person who was himself
accused of terrorist offences and who stood to benefit under the Remorse
Law if he implicated others, afforded an insufficient basis on which to
found a reasonable suspicion against them, and that no facts or information
provided by the Government disclosed the existence of such a suspicion as
would satisfy an objective observer.
673. Having regard to the conclusion reached in the following
paragraphs, the Court does not find it necessary finally to decide the
question whether there existed a reasonable suspicion against those
applicants to whom express reference was made in the various statements of
Mr. Güven.
674. However, the Court notes that Arif Altınkalem was apprehended on
16 November 1993, whilst Mr Güven's statements were being made to the
gendarmerie on 15 and 16 November 1993 with no mention of him. The
Government have not provided any evidence to indicate the basis on which