SECOND SECTION

Application no. 2433/12 Ali Haydar VARHAN against Turkey lodged on 22 November 2011

STATEMENT OF FACTS

The applicant, Mr Ali Haydar Varhan , is a Turkish national, who was born in 1985 and lives in Adı yaman . He is represented before the Court by Mr F. Temel , a lawyer practising in Adı yaman .

A. The circumstances of the case

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

On an unspecified date the applicant and twenty-one other persons were charged by the Malatya public prosecutor with disseminating propaganda in favour of the PKK, an illegal organisation . The public prosecutor claimed that the applicant and his co-accused had committed the offence in question by way of attending a demonstration in favour of the PKK and carrying a flag consisting of the colours of green, yellow and red on 21 March 2007.

On 6 March 2008 the Malatya Assize Court convicted the applicant and sentenced him to ten months imprisonment under section 7(2) of the Prevention of Terrorism Act (Law no. 3713). The court held that the applicant had waved a green-yellow-red flag, which represented the PKK, and therefore committed the offence in issue.

On 31 May 2011 the Court of Cassation upheld the judgment of 6 March 2008.

B. Relevant domestic law

Section 7(2) of the Prevention of Terrorism Act read, at the relevant time, as follows:

“Anyone who disseminates propaganda in favour of a terrorist organisation shall be sentenced to a term of imprisonment of from one to five years.”

COMPLAINT

The applicant complains under Article 10 of the Convention that his conviction for carrying a flag attributed to the PKK was in violation of his freedom of expression.

ITMarkFactsComplaintsEND

QUESTION TO THE PARTIES

Has there been a violation of the applicant ’ s right to freedom of expression, contrary to Article 10 of the Convention on account of his conviction under section 7(2) of the Prevention of Terrorism Act?