Prison Authorities Violate European Convention of Human Rights by Withholding Four Issues of Periodical from Prisoners

20-07-2023 

Sofía Medina Sánchez 

International Justice and Human Rights Researcher 

Global Human Rights Defence 

On the 18th of July 2023, the European Court of Human Rights (ECtHR) issued the case of Osman and Altay v. Türkiye, finding a violation of Article 10 (freedom of expression) of the European Convention on Human Rights (ECHR). 

The case concerned two applicants, Abdulmenaf Osman and Mehmet Altunç Altay, nationals of Syria and Türkiye respectively, who were detained in the Akhisar and Edirne maximum security prisons at the relevant time. The education committees of these prisons intercepted four issues of the bi-weekly periodical Yeni Demokrasi (“New Democracy”) and did not deliver them to the applicants. The Committees considered those periodicals as a threat to security at the prison.  

The Strasbourg Court drew attention to the Constitutional Court’s case law, especially the Halil Bayik and Recep Bekik judgements, which demands prison authorities to give satisfactory reasons and meet concrete criteria in the event of refusing to give prisoners the publications sent to them. 

The Court found that the decisions issued by the education committees and domestic courts had not appropriately balanced the applicant’s right to freedom of expression and the need to guarantee order and discipline in prisons. The Court concluded that the Turkish government did not sufficiently demonstrate that the reasons given by the national authorities to justify the measures were relevant, sufficient, or necessary in a democratic society. Therefore, the prison authorities violated Article 10 of the ECHR by failing to deliver the four issues of the periodical to the applicants. 

Sources and further readings: 

Case of Osman and Altay v. Türkiye (Application no. 23782/20), Judgement, Second Section, 18th July 2023: https://hudoc.echr.coe.int/#{%22itemid%22:[%22001-226080%22]} 

Press Release issued by the Registrar to the Court, ECHR 230 (2023) 18 July 2023: https://hudoc.echr.coe.int/#{%22documentcollectionid2%22:[%22GRANDCHAMBER%22,%22CHAMBER%22],%22itemid%22:[%22001-226092%22]}