ECHR awaits reply from the AKP: Why are the Cumhuriyet people in detention?

Now that approval has been given for the fast-tracking of the application made to the European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) by Cumhuriyet newspaper’s columnists, cartoonists and managers, who have been held in prison for 226 days, the court yesterday announced that it was giving Turkey until 2 October to prepare its defence.

Following the application made by our Editor-in-Chief Murat Sabuncu and another nine detained Cumhuriyet staff members, the court has asked Turkey to explain the grounds on which the detention order was passed.

Application on hold

With it recalled in the announcement made by the ECHR that the ten Cumhuriyet people who have been in detention since October 2016 have objected to the order, it is pointed out that their application to the Constitutional Court is on hold. It is recalled that application has been made in respect of the right to liberty and security in the first, third and fourth paragraphs of Article 5 of the European Convention on Human Rights, freedom of expression in Article 10 and legal restrictions in Article 18, and the ten journalists are making application challenging their temporary detention and its duration and denial of their freedom of speech. It was indicated in the application that their detention is also due to their views critical of the government.