Judge Says Ecthr Could Hear Turkey's Corruption Case

One of the Turkish judges serving at the European Court of Human Rights (ECtHR) said on Friday that an ongoing government corruption case in Turkey might be brought to the European court.

Judge Işıl Karakaş, in an interview with the daily Cumhuriyet, said that there is an ongoing legal process and she therefore did not want to comment at length, but noted that the case could come before the ECtHR.

Criticizing the media ban on the coverage of the parliamentary investigation of corruption, Karakaş said corruption is a matter of direct public interest and that the people have the right to learn what politicians have done. She ruled out the excuse of protecting the private lives of politicians, used to justify the latest media ban issued by Parliament regarding publication of the debates in the parliamentary commission investigating the corruption allegations that led to the resignation of four former ministers from the governing Justice and Development Party (AK Party).

“Corruption is an issue that is relevant to public opinion; there can be no media ban on this issue,” Karakaş said as she underlined the importance of media freedom. She said that only in exceptional cases such as when it is necessary to protect a minor or in sexual assault cases should restrictions on the media be considered. According to Karakaş, there is no precedent in European law for such a ban in corruption cases.

She further said it is the media's natural right to resist the media ban on covering the corruption investigation. Some media outlets, including Today's Zaman, have declared that they will not observe the ban and will continue to inform the public on the details of the investigation.

(Cihan/Today's Zaman)