THIRD SECTION

DECISION

Application no. 33404/02 by Veli YILDIRIM against Turkey

The European Court of Human Rights (Third Section), sitting on 5 April 2007 as a Chamber composed of:

Mr B.M. Zupančič , President, Mr R. Türmen , Mrs E. Fura-Sandström , Mrs A. Gyulumyan , Mr David Thór Björgvinsson , Mrs I. Ziemele , Mrs I. Berro-Lefèvre , judges, and Mr S. Naismith , Deputy S ection Registrar ,

Having regard to the above application lodged on 22 July 2002,

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 formal declarations accepting a frien dly settlement of the case,

Having deliberated, decides as follows :

THE FACTS

The applicant, Mr Veli Yıldırım , is a Turkish national who was born in 1964 and lives in Ankara . He is represented before the Court by Mr M. Bektaş , a lawyer practising in Ankara .

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

On 20 November 1980 the applicant was arrested by police officers on suspicion of his membership of an illegal organisation, namely the Dev- Yol ( Revolutionary Way ).

The Ankara Martial Law Court ( sıkıyönetim mahkemesi ) ordered the applicant ’ s detention on remand on 23 and 26 January 1981.

On 26 February 1982 the military public prosecutor filed a bill of indictment with the Ankara Martial Law Court against the applicant along with 723 other defendants. He accused the applicant of membership of the Dev- Yol , whose aim was to undermine the constitutional order and replace it with a Marxist-Leninist regime, contrary to Article 146 of the Criminal Code.

On 17 June 1985 the applicant was released pending trial.

On 19 July 1989 the Martial Law Court convicted the applicant as charged and sentenced him to fifteen years ’ imprisonment. The applicant appealed.

Following promulgation of the Law of 26 December 1994, which abolished the jurisdiction of the martial law courts, the Court of Cassation acquired jurisdiction over the case and the case file was sent to it.

On 28 December 1996 the Court of Cassation quashed the judgment of the first instance court and remitted the case file to the Ankara Assize Court .

On 6 May 1996 the trial was resumed before the Ankara Assize Court . On 16 July 2002 the Assize Court convicted the applicant as charged and sentenced the applicant to sixteen years and eight months ’ imprisonment. This judgment was quashed by the Court of Cassation on 28 May 2004.

On 3 October 2006 the applicant was convicted as charged and sentenced to sixteen years and eight months ’ imprisonment.

The case is pending before the Court of Cassation.

COMPLAINTS

The applicant complained under Article 6 of the Convention about the length of the criminal proceedings brought against him.

THE LAW

On 20 February 2007 the Court received the following declaration from the Government:

“I declare that the Government of Turkey offer to pay ex gratia EUR 10,000 (ten thousand euros) to the applicant with a view to securing a friendly settlement of the above-mentioned case pending before the European Court of Human Rights.

This sum, which is to cover any damages as well as costs and expenses connected with the case, shall be free of any tax that may be applicable and be paid in euros, to be converted into new Turkish liras at the rate applicable at the date of the payment, to a bank account named by the applicant and/or his duly authorised representative. This sum shall be payable within three months from the date of notification of the Court ’ s decision delivered pursuant to Article 37 of the European Convention on Human Rights. In the event of failure to pay this sum within the said three-month period, the Government undertake to pay simple interest on it, from expiry of that period until settlement, at a rate equal to the marginal lending rate of the European Central Bank during the default period plus three percentage points. The payment will constitute the final resolution of the case...”

On 27 February 2007 the Court received the following declaration signed by the applicant ’ s representative:

“In my capacity as the representative of the applicant, I note that the Government of Turkey are prepared to pay the applicant ex gratia the sum of EUR 10,000 (ten thousand euros) with a view to securing a friendly settlement of the above-mentioned case pending before the European Court of Human Rights. This sum, which is to cover any damages as well as costs and expenses connected with the case, shall be free of any tax that may be applicable and will be paid in euros, to be converted into new Turkish liras at the date of payment, to a bank account named by us. The sum shall be payable within three months from the date of notification of the Court ’ s decision delivered pursuant to Article 37 of the European Convention on Human Rights.

Having duly consulted the applicant, I accept the proposal and waive any further claims against Turkey in respect of the facts of this application. I declare that this constitutes a final resolution of the case.

This declaration is made in the context of a friendly settlement which the Government and the applicant have reached...”

The Court takes note of the friendly settlement reached between the parties. It is satisfied that the settlement is based on respect for human rights as defined in the Convention and its Protocols and finds no public policy reasons to justify a continued examination of the application (Article 37 § 1 in fine of the Convention). Accordingly, Article 29 § 3 of the Convention should no longer apply to the case 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.

Stanley Naismith Boštjan M. Zupančič Deputy Registrar President