In the reasoned opinion for a verdict that rejected the individual petitions of individuals accused of participation in a failed coup, the Turkish Constitutional Court argued that the ongoing emergency rule in the country is compatible with the constitution and the decisions of the European Court of Human Rights (ECtHR) and the Council of Europe (CoE).
Publishing its decision in Turkey’s Official Gazette on Friday, the top court unanimously denied the petitions of four imprisoned coup suspects (the case of Aydın Yavuz et al), stating that the 11-month-long detention of the applicants was reasonable.
Turkey’s top court also this week denied the petition for release of two fired educators, Nuriye Gülmen and Semih Özakça, who have been on a hunger strike for 112 days to protest their dismissal under state of emergency decree-laws. The court argued that being in prison did not pose a threat to the lives and physical or moral integrity of Gülmen and Özakça.
Tens of thousands of people have been held in pre-trial detention in Turkey since a coup attempt last July. Two judges of the country’s Constitutional Court were arrested on coup charges shortly after the putsch.
Turkey has been criticized by European institutions for extended pre-trial detentions that could last for years.