Communicated on 18 January 2017

SECOND SECTION

Application no. 46928/12 Mehmet Zekı AYDEMIR against Turkey lodged on 31 May 2012

STATEMENT OF FACTS

The applicant, Mr Mehmet Zeki Aydemir , is a Turkish national who was born in 1985 and lives in Mardin .

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

On 21 March 2008 the applicant attended the Newroz (Kurdish new year ) celebrations organised by the Democratic Society Party ( Demokratik Toplum Partisi –DTP) in the K ı z ı ltepe district of Mardin .

On 23 March 2008 the applicant was arrested on suspicion of disseminating propaganda in favour of the PKK, an illegal armed organisation. On the same day he was remanded in custody.

On 3 April 2008 the Diyarbak ı r public prosecutor filed a bill of indictment with the Diyarbak ı r Assize Court, charging the applicant with disseminating propaganda in favour of the PKK under section 7(2) of the Prevention of Terrorism Act (Law no. 3713). The public prosecutor alleged that the applicant had committed the offence in issue by way of carrying a poster of Abdullah Ö calan , the leader of the PKK, during the Newroz celebrations.

On 8 May 2008 the Diyarbak ı r Assize Court convicted the applicant as charged and sentenced him to one year and three months of imprisonment. Taking into account the time the applicant had already spent in prison, the court ordered his release.

On 21 June 2011 the Court of Cassation upheld the judgment of 8 May 2008.

On 9 April 2012 the applicant was notified of the committal order concerning the execution of his prison sentence . He started serving the sentence on the same day.

COMPLAINT

The applicant complains under Articles 9 and 10 of the Convention that his conviction and sentence under section 7(2) of Law no. 3713 constituted a breach of his rights to freedom of thought and freedom of expression.

QUESTION TO THE PARTIES

Has there been a violation of the applicant ’ s right to freedom of expression, protected by Article 10 of the Convention, on account of his conviction under section 7(2) of the Prevention of Terrorism Act (Law no. 3713)?