Mehmet Altan and Şahin Alpay’s release denied

Istanbul Serious Crime Court No 13, which is trying detainee Şahin Alpay, and Serious Crime Court No 26, at which Mehmet Altan is on trial, whose rights the Constitutional Court declared to have been violated, decided to continue their detention on the grounds that the Constitutional Court’s reasoned decision had not been promulgated in the Official Gazette.

 Istanbul Serious Crime Court No 13, which is hearing the trial in which Alpay is being prosecuted, has stated that Article 153 of the Constitution provides that annulment rulings passed by the Constitutional Court become effective and valid on their promulgation in reasoned form in the Official Gazette. The court, stating that the reasoned ruling on Alpay had not been communicated, nor had the Constitutional Court passed an order constituting a measure. The bench ordered continuation of detention by majority vote on such grounds as the nature and character of the offence with which Alpay is charged, the current evidentiary situation, the top limit of the sentence sought and the evidence not having been gathered. At the time this decision was served on Alpay’s lawyers, the reasoned decision had been placed on the Constitutional Court’s website. Member judge Kadir Karakoç dissented over continuing Alpay’s detention. Judge Karakoç noted in his dissenting opinion that the truncated ruling was final and was binding on the court.

 Constitutional Court ruled that there was a rights violation

 The Plenary Session of the Constitutional Court examined the individual applications of Zaman newspaper’s former columnist Alpay and journalist-columnist Altan along with our newspaper’s Book Supplement Editor Turhan Günay.

 The Supreme Court ruled by the majority vote of eleven members against six that the applicants’ rights had been violated.

 http://www.cumhuriyet.com.tr/haber/turkiye/903348/Ozgurluk_kararina__Resmi_Gazete__mazereti..._Mehmet_Altan_ve_Sahin_Alpay_in_tahliye_talebine_ret.html