CASE No - Inter-Parliamentary Union

CL/183/SR.1
ANNEX XXXIII
CASE No. TK/39 - LEYLA ZANA ) TURKEY
CASE No. TK/41 - HATIP DICLE )
CASE No. TK/51 - ORHAN DOGAN 27 )
CASE No. TK/52 - SELIM SADAK )
CASE No. TK/55 - MEHMET SINÇAR )
Resolution adopted unanimously by the IPU Governing Council at its 183 rd session
(Geneva, 15 October 2008)
The Governing Council of the Inter-Parliamentary Union,
Referring to the case of Ms. Leyla Zana, Mr. Hatip Dicle, Mr. Orhan Dogan, Mr. Selim
Sadak and Mr. Mehmet Sinçar, former members of the Grand National Assembly of Turkey, as outlined
in the report of the Committee on the Human Rights of Parliamentarians (CL/183/12(b)-R.1), and to the
resolution adopted at its 182 nd session (April 2008),
Taking account of the letter from the President of the Turkish Inter-Parliamentary Group,
dated 12 October 2008,
Recalling the following: Ms. Zana, Mr. Dicle, Mr. Dogan and Mr. Sadak were sentenced in
December 1994 to a 15-year prison term for being members of an armed organization; on 26 June
2001, the European Court of Human Rights ruled that they had not enjoyed a fair trial; the retrial before
the Ankara State Security Court, which upheld the conviction, was quashed by the Court of Cassation,
which ruled that their right to a fair trial had again not been respected and ordered a second retrial; at
the closure of this second retrial in March 2007, the 11 th High Criminal Court of Ankara sentenced
Ms. Zana, Mr. Dicle, Mr. Dogan and Mr. Sadak to seven years and six months in prison under Article 5
of Anti-Terrorism Law 3713 (prohibition on praising terrorism) and Article 314 (2) of the Turkish Penal
Code (punishing membership of an illegal organization) as opposed to the original 15-year prison
sentence, of which they had served 10 years; the second retrial was reportedly also flawed, in particular
owing to the destruction of important exonerating evidence, and an application was therefore filed in
the Court of Cassation; noting that on 27 February 2008 the Court handed down its ruling upholding the
verdict of the 11 th High Criminal Court of Ankara,
Recalling the following: Mr. Sinçar was assassinated in September 1993 in circumstances
suggesting an extrajudicial execution; in January 2005, the then Turkish Minister of Justice affirmed that
the killing had been carried out by members of the Hezbollah terrorist organization, an accusation which
that group reportedly refuted; in October 1993 twelve persons were accused, two of whom were at
large; in November 1994, all but those two suspects were acquitted for want of evidence; in April 1996,
the then Minister of Justice stated that the identity of the murderer had been established but that he was
living in the Islamic Republic of Iran; according to the information provided by the President of the
Turkish IPU Group in January and April 2008, a criminal case regarding the murder of Mr. Sinçar was
pending before the 6 th Assize Court in Diyarbakir and hearings had been scheduled for 21 February and
8 May 2008; Mrs. Sinçar is, however, reportedly unaware of those proceedings; noting in this respect
that, in his letter of 12 October 2008, the President of the Turkish IPU Group reported the following:
the indictment prepared by the Diyarbakir State Security Court dated 24 May 2000 (2000/59) contains
no information about a complainant; the review of the investigation documents and documents
pertaining to the legal proceedings show that neither Mr. Sinçar’s wife nor any relative was consulted as
witness, that no notice was sent to Mrs. Sinçar, and that neither she nor any relative was informed of the
proceedings or applied as “intervener” (civil party),
27 Mr. Orhan Dogan died on 29 June 2007.