Post by Bozur on Apr 10, 2005 16:55:42 GMT -5
European court: Islamists unfairly convicted of supporting Hezbollah
STRASBOURG (AP) - Europe’s top human rights court ruled yesterday that a group of activists convicted in Turkey of having supported the Shi’ite Muslim guerrilla group Hezbollah didn’t receive a fair trial before an independent and impartial tribunal.
The five Turkish citizens, who worked as municipal civil servants in the Ankara suburb of Sincan, had previously lost an appeal against prison sentences handed down by the State Security Court in the Turkish capital for helping organize a cultural night in 1997 where participants called for Islamic rule in the country.
The group then took their case to the European Court of Human Rights, complaining they did not get a fair trial, citing the presence of a military judge on the bench of the Turkish court that tried them.
The European court ruled unanimously the group’s rights had been violated by the presence of the military judge on the bench, meaning the activists can seek a new trial.
During the “Jerusalem Night,” an event organized by Sincan’s Culture and Education Department in early 1997, which included a play about the liberation struggle of Palestinians, about 500 participants, gathered around a podium decorated with posters of the leaders of radical Islamic groups, such as Hamas and Hezbollah, chanting “God is Great” and calling for Islamic rule.
The event caused a storm in the predominantly Muslim but secular country and three days later the military sent 20 tanks and 15 armored personnel carriers rumbling through the streets of Sincan in a show of force.
www.ekathimerini.com/4dcgi/news/content.asp?aid=54070
STRASBOURG (AP) - Europe’s top human rights court ruled yesterday that a group of activists convicted in Turkey of having supported the Shi’ite Muslim guerrilla group Hezbollah didn’t receive a fair trial before an independent and impartial tribunal.
The five Turkish citizens, who worked as municipal civil servants in the Ankara suburb of Sincan, had previously lost an appeal against prison sentences handed down by the State Security Court in the Turkish capital for helping organize a cultural night in 1997 where participants called for Islamic rule in the country.
The group then took their case to the European Court of Human Rights, complaining they did not get a fair trial, citing the presence of a military judge on the bench of the Turkish court that tried them.
The European court ruled unanimously the group’s rights had been violated by the presence of the military judge on the bench, meaning the activists can seek a new trial.
During the “Jerusalem Night,” an event organized by Sincan’s Culture and Education Department in early 1997, which included a play about the liberation struggle of Palestinians, about 500 participants, gathered around a podium decorated with posters of the leaders of radical Islamic groups, such as Hamas and Hezbollah, chanting “God is Great” and calling for Islamic rule.
The event caused a storm in the predominantly Muslim but secular country and three days later the military sent 20 tanks and 15 armored personnel carriers rumbling through the streets of Sincan in a show of force.
www.ekathimerini.com/4dcgi/news/content.asp?aid=54070