North Cyprus - European court affirms lawfulness of Norh Cyprus courts

The top European human rights court has acknowledged the lawfulness of courts in the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus (KKTC), in a ruling concerning a complaint by a Greek Cypriot citizen against Turkey suggesting she had been deprived of her liberty by a KKTC court "unlawfully and arbitrarily."

The applicant, Eliade Protopapa, had participated in an anti-Turkish demonstration in July 1989 in the Ayios Kassianos area in Nicosia, an area within the UN buffer zone.

Protopapa alleged that she had been forcefully grabbed by the hair when arrested by the Turkish police and was then subjected to a severe beating with electric batons, causing her painful injuries. She complained that she was then locked in a stiflingly hot room, received no medical attention and was later taken, amidst a hostile crowd cursing and spitting at her, to a garage where she was interrogated in Greek.

"Later that day the District Court of Nicosia in the 'Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus' had authorized Ms. Protopapa's detention on remand and two days later had heard her in a hearing. She had refused the legal aid offered by the authorities. Ms. Protopapa had been sentenced to two days in prison, to a fine and to deposit money as a guarantee that she would not breach public peace for a period of one year. Ms Protopapa alleged that, as a result of the ill-treatment to which she had been subjected, her vertebrae had been seriously damaged," the European Court of Human Rights explained in its ruling released on Monday.

The court had declared Protopapa's application partly admissible in September 2002.

Protopapa complained that she had been ill-treated, unlawfully detained, tried in an unfair trial, convicted of acts which had not constituted a criminal offense, been unable to take part in a peaceful assembly, did not have at her disposal a domestic effective remedy capable of redressing the violations of her fundamental rights and had been discriminated against on the grounds of her ethnic origin and religious beliefs.

The Turkish government, meanwhile, submitted that Protopapa had participated in a violent demonstration and had been arrested by the Turkish Cypriot police after she had crossed the UN buffer zone and entered the area under Turkish Cypriot control.

Eventually, all of Protopapa's complaints relying on the articles covering the prohibition of inhuman or degrading treatment; the right to liberty and security; the right to a fair hearing; no punishment without law; freedom of assembly and association; the right to an effective remedy; and prohibition of discrimination... were rejected by the court in its Monday ruling.

TODAY'S ZAMAN

 

26.02.2009