ECHR decides Turkish court’s ruling of insult against president is violation of law
The European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) has ruled for the first time on an application for ‘insulting the president‘, calling it a ’violation’. The ECHR also used the phrase “the article of the TCK on insulting the presidency needs to be changed.”
The European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) called Vedat Sorli’s imprisonment of 11 months and 20 days for insulting the President (TCK 299) in 2017 for a photo and a cartoon he shared on Facebook a “violation of freedom of expression’”.
Noting that TCK 299 which regulates insults to the president, is incompatible with both the European Convention on Human Rights and with freedom of expression, the ECHR said, “The state cannot develop a special protection privilege for the President when it intends to defend his reputation.”
It also emphasized that TCK 299 can have a deterrent effect on the individual in raising issues that are in the public interest. The decision is important from the point of view of being the first and precedent.
In its decision, the ECHR cited the recommendation of the Committee of Ministers of the Council of Europe entitled ‘The reputation of political figures and public officials’ in 2004 and the opinion of the Venice Commission in 2016 that the current state and practical application of Articles 216, 299, 301 and 314 of the TCK are incompatible with European norms.
Turkey sentenced to pay compensation
Explaining its decision after the citations, the court ruled that Vedat Sorli’s ‘freedom of expression’, which is registered by the European Convention on Human Rights, was violated by Turkey. The court sentenced Turkey to pay 7,500 euros in compensation to Sorli. In addition, the court also asked Turkey to harmonize TCK 299 with the case law of the ECHR.
