Euroopa Inimõiguste Kohus
09.02.2021
Facts
The applicant, a lawyer detained on charges of membership of a terrorist organisation and of disseminating propaganda in favour of a terrorist organisation, asked the prison authorities for permission to access internet sites of the European Court of Human Rights, the Constitutional Court and the Official Gazette, with a view to preparing his own defence and following his clients’ cases. However, this request was rejected by the authorities.
Complaint
The applicant alleged that the authorities' rejection of his request for access to the websites during detention infringed his right to receive information. He relied on Article 10 of the Convention.
Court’s ruling
As prisoners’ access to certain internet sites for the purposes of training and rehabilitation was provided for in Turkish law, the restriction on the applicant’s access to internet sites, which contained only legal information, amounted to an interference with his right to receive information. This interference was prescribed by law and pursued the legitimate aims of preventing disorder or crime.
No explanation was given as to why the impugned measure had been necessary in light of the legitimate aims of maintaining order and security in the prison and the prevention of crime. The domestic courts had not carried out any detailed analysis of the security risks which would allegedly have resulted from the applicant’s access to the sites, especially since the sites in question belonged to state entities and an international organisation, and the applicant would have had access to them only under the authorities’ supervision and in the conditions determined by them.
It followed that the reasons adduced by the national authorities to justify the impugned measure had been neither relevant nor sufficient and the measure in question had not been necessary in a democratic society. Thus, the Court found that there was a violation of Article 10.