SECOND SECTION

DECISION

Application no. 7872/05 by Veysel AKTAÅž against Turkey

The European Court of Human Rights (Second Section), sitting on 22 May 2007 as a Chamber composed of:

Mrs F. Tulkens , President , Mr A.B. Baka , Mr R. Türmen , Mr M. Ugrekhelidze , Mr V. Zagrebelsky , Ms D. Jočienė , Mr D. Popović , judges , and Mrs S. Dollé , Section Registrar ,

Having regard to the above application lodged on 4 February 2005,

Having regard to the decision to apply Article 29 § 3 of the Convention and examine the admissibility and merits of the case together ,

Having regard to the observations submitt ed by the respondent Government,

Having deliberated, decides as follows:

THE FACTS

The applicant, Mr Veysel Aktaş , is a Turkish national who was born in 1973 and detained on remand in Kandıra prison . He was represented before the Court by Mr C . Demirçivi , a lawyer practising in I stanbul . The Turkish Government (“the Government”) did not designate an Agent for the purposes of the proceedings before the Court .

The facts of the case, as submitted by the parties, may be summarised as follows.

On 27 November 1995 the applicant was taken into custody by police officers from the anti-terror branch of the Istanbul Security Directorate on suspicion of membership of an illegal organisation, the Dev- Yol ( Revolutionary Way ).

On 8 December 1995 the Istanbul State Security Court ordered the applicant ’ s detention on remand.

On 9 May 1996 the public prosecutor at the Istanbul State Security Court filed a bill of indictment charging the applicant under Article 146 § 1 of the Criminal Code and Article 5 of the Prevention of Terrorism Act. The applicant was accused of being one of the leaders of the Dev- Yol in Istanbul .

On 14 May 1996 the Istanbul State Security Court held the first hearing in the case (no. 1996/180).

On 27 January 2000 the public prosecutor at the Istanbul State Security Court submitted his opinion concerning the merits of the case, maintaining that the applicant should be convicted of membership of the Dev- Yol under Article 168 § 2 of the Criminal Code.

The applicant requested to be released pending trial several times before the trial court. The Istanbul State Security Court dismissed his request s on all occasions having regard to the state of the eviden ce, the nature of the offence and the possibility of his fleeing .

By Law no. 5190 of 16 June 2004, published in the Official Gazette on 30 June 2004, State Security Courts were abolished. The case against the applicant was transferred to the Istanbul Assize Court .

According to the information in the Court ’ s case file, the criminal proceedings are apparently still pending before the Istanbul Assize Court .

COMPLAINT

The applicant originally complained that his detention on remand exceeded the “reasonable time” requirement of Article 5 § 3 of the Convention .

THE LAW

On 8 April 2005 the Court communicated the application to the Government. By a letter dated 5 August 2005, the applicant ’ s representative, Mr Demirçivi , was requested to submit his client ’ s final observations on admissibility and merits, together with any claims for just satisfaction, before 16 September 2005.

A reminder was sent to the applicant ’ s representative on 24 January 2006, by registered post, together with a warning that failure to reply might lead to the application being struck out of the list for lack of interest.

No response was received by the Court to any of these letters.

In these circumstances and having regard to Article 37 § 1 (a) of the Convention, the Court concludes that the applicant does not intend to pursue his application. Furthermore, in accordance with Article 37 § 1 in fine , the Court finds no special circumstances regarding respect for human rights as defined in the Convention and its Protocols which require the further examination of the case. Accordingly, Article 29 § 3 of the Convention should no longer apply to the application and it should be struck out of the list.

For these reasons, the Court unanimously

Decides to strike the application out of its list of cases.

S. Dollé F. Tulkens Registrar President