Communicated on 1 March 2016

SECOND SECTION

Application no 56982/10 Velat BULUT against Turkey lodged on 6 September 2010

STATEMENT OF FACTS

The applicant, Mr Velat Bulut , is a Turkish national, who was born in 1992 and lives in Istanbul. He is represented before the Court by Mr M. Erbil, a lawyer practising in Istanbul.

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

On 15 February 2009 the applicant was arrested by police officers from the Istanbul Police Headquarters on suspicion of being involved in the activities of a terrorist organisation. On 18 February 2009 the applicant ’ s statement was taken by the public prosecutor. The same day the investigating judge at the Istanbul Assize Court ordered that the applicant be detained on remand.

On 27 March 2009 the Istanbul public prosecutor initiated criminal proceedings against the applicant in the Istanbul Assize Court. He charged him with membership of an armed terrorist organisation , making the propaganda of an armed terrorist organisation , contravening the Meetings and Demonstration Marches Act (Law no. 2911), and causing damage to public property.

On 5 May 2009 at the end of the preparatory hearing, the Istanbul Assize Court decided the applicant ’ s detention should be continued. On 2 October 2009 the applicant ’ s trial resumed. At the first hearing, in the presence of the applicant, the court ordered that the applicant ’ s detention on remand be continued.

At hearings held on 16 February 2010 and 8 June 2010, respectively, the applicant ’ s requests to be released from detention on remand were rejected by the trial court. The applicant filed objections against these decisions. On 15 March 2010 and 7 July 2010, the Istanbul Assize Court dismissed the objections. The court decided on the basis of the case file, without holding a public hearing. In delivering its decisions, the court also took into consideration the written opinion of the public prosecutors, which had not been communicated to the applicant or his representative.

On 17 October 2010 the case was transferred to the Juvenile Court.

On 23 November 2010, after spending one year and 9 months in detention on remand, the applicant was released pending trial.

According to the information in the case file, the case is still pending before the Istanbul Anadolu Juvenile Court.

COMPLAINTS

The applicant complains under Article 5 § 3 of the Convention about the excessive length of his detention on remand.

The applicant further complains under Article 5 §§ 4 and 5 of the Convention that he did not have an effective remedy to challenge the lawfulness of his detention and of the lack of compensation under domestic law in respect of the lack of an effective remedy. He contends that his right to have an effective remedy was breached since his objections were dismissed by the appeal courts based on the public prosecutors ’ written opinions, which were not communicated to him or to his representatives.

QUESTIONS

1. Having regard in particular to the fact that the applicant was a minor at the material time, was the length of his detention on remand in breach of the “reasonable time” requirement of Article 5 § 3 of the Convention?

2. Was the procedure by which the applicant sought to challenge the lawfulness of his pre-trial detention in conformity with Article 5 § 4 of the Convention? In particular, was the principle of equality of arms between the applicant and the prosecution respected in the present case?

3. Did the applicant have an effective and enforceable right to compensation for his detention in alleged contravention of Article 5 §§ 3 and 4, as required by Article 5 § 5 of the Convention?