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Constitutional Court decided violation of rights for journalist Erdal İmrek who was hit by police

The Constitutional Court has ruled that Erdal İmrek, who while serving as an editor on Evrensel was beaten up on the anniversary of the Gezi resistance and had gas sprayed into his face from close up, suffered a rights violation.

Constitutional Court decided violation of rights for journalist Erdal İmrek who was hit by police

The Constitutional Court (CC) has ruled that Journalist Erdal İmrek, who was beaten up while observing the police assault on a gathering in Taksim on the anniversary of the Gezi resistance, suffered a rights violation and ordered the conducting of a reinvestigation and retrial into the matter. The CC also ordered the paying of non-pecuniary damages to İmrek, who at the time was serving as an editor on Evrensel.

Erdal İmrek was beaten up on 31 May 2014 while observing the police assault on a gathering in Taksim on the anniversary of the Gezi resistance. The police grabbed İmrek, kicked him alongside a wall and sprayed gas into his face from close up. İmrek complained about the incident but the prosecution said with reference to the beating incident that was recorded second by second that “there were no grounds for prosecution” stating that “force was not used.”

The CC, conversely, ruled that “the freedoms of expression and the press had been violated” and “the prohibition on treatment inconsistent with human honour had been violated” and ordered the paying to İmrek of 27,500 Turkish lira in non-pecuniary damages.

The CC also decided for “a copy of the ruling to be remitted to Istanbul Administrative Court No 2 and Istanbul Republic Chief Prosecution for the conducting of a reinvestigation and retrial for the consequences of the violation of the prohibition on treatment inconsistent with human honour and the freedoms of expression and the press to be cured.” (EVRENSEL DAILY)


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