Leyla Zana reaches settlement with Turkey

Turkey’s award-winning Kurdish activist Leyla Zana has reached a
“friendly settlement” with the Turkish state at the European Court
of Human Rights.

Under a “friendly settlement” reached at the European Court of
Human Rights on 11 January, Kurdish human rights activist Leyla
Zana, along with two other Turkish nationals, will receive
financial compensation from the Turkish state for the latter’s
violation of the applicants’ right to free expression.

Zana, a former member of the banned Democratic Party (DEP) and a
recipient of the Sakharov Prize for Freedom of Thought, spent ten
years in prison for speaking Kurdish in the Turkish parliament.
She, along with Veysel Turhan, the former president of the People’s
Democracy Party (HADEP), and Hamit Geylani, HADEP’s secretary
general, appealed against a 16-month prison sentence and a fine
meted out to them by the Turkish national security court
for allegedly publishing separatist propaganda in a 1997 issue of
HADEP’s monthly journal. Zana was also sentenced to two years’
imprisonment and a fine for allegedly inciting hatred and
hostility.

The “friendly settlement” was reached after the applicants
challenged the court ruling, arguing that the procedure and the
decision had constituted a violation of their freedom of
expression. Zana will now receive 9,000 euro for damage and for
costs and expenses. Turhan and Geylani will each receive 7,000 euro
for damage and 1,500 euro jointly for costs and expenses.

Read more with Euractiv

The big EU issues in 2005

EURACTIV gives an overview of the main EU policy debates that will dominate the agenda in 2005. From enlargement to climate change and the financial perspectives.