European Court of Human Rights
Turkey sentenced for Yücel detention – journalists are entitled to 13,300 euros in compensation
Deniz Yücel 2019 in Berlin
© Michael Kappeler / DPA
Turkey has been fined by the European Court of Human Rights. The background is the imprisonment of the German journalist from “Welt”, Deniz Yücel. This violated his right to freedom of speech and freedom of the press.
Turkey has to pay 13,300 euros in compensation to the German journalist Deniz Yücel. The reason for this is a ruling by the European Court of Human Rights (ECtHR) that the country has condemned for Yücel’s imprisonment. Turkey’s actions violated its human rights to liberty and security and freedom of expression, the decision said. However, this is not yet final – the litigants can contest it within three months.
Yücel says he was tortured
The “Welt” correspondent was detained without charge from February 2017 to February 2018 in the maximum security prison Silivri west of Istanbul. The allegations against him related, among other things, to an interview with a leader of the banned Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK). Only after a long political tug of war between Ankara and Berlin was Yücel released after a year in custody. He then left Turkey immediately and returned to Germany.
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In July 2020, the journalist was then sentenced in absentia to around two years and ten months in prison for terrorist propaganda for the banned Kurdish Workers’ Party PKK. The procedure is under revision.
According to Yücel, he was tortured during his detention. In his testimony, he reported being beaten, kicked, humiliated and threatened by law enforcement officials during his first days in the high-security prison in Silivri near Istanbul.
In early 2021, the starthat there are indications that the journalist’s release was accelerated by quid pro quo. According to research, a Rheinmetall subsidiary supplied protection systems to a Turkish tank builder shortly after Yücel’s dismissal. The federal government at the time had denied that there had been such a deal.