The European Court of Human Rights (Second Section), sitting on 3 May 2007 as a Chamber composed of: Mrs F. TULKENS, President, Mr A.B. BAKA, Mr R. TÜRMEN, Mr M. UGREKHELIDZE, Mr V. ZAGREBELSKY, Ms D. JOČIENĖ, Mr D. POPOVIĆ, judges, and Mrs F. ELENS-PASSOS, Section Deputy Registrar, Having regard to the above application lodged on 16 October 2003, Having regard to the decision to apply Article 29 § 3 of the Convention and examine the admissibility and merits of the case together, Having regard to the observations submitted by the respondent Government and the observations in reply submitted by the applicant, Having deliberated, decides as follows: THE FACTS The applicant, Mr Orhan Sapan, is a Turkish national who was born in 1963 and lives in Istanbul. He was represented before the Court by Mr E. Kanar, a lawyer practising in Istanbul. The Government did not appoint an agent to...
CONSEIL DE L’EUROPE COUNCIL OF EUROPE COUR EUROPÉENNE DES DROITS DE L’HOMME EUROPEAN COURT OF HUMAN RIGHTS SECOND SECTION DECISION AS TO THE ADMISSIBILITY OF Application no. 36075/03 by Orhan SAPAN against Turkey The European Court of Human Rights (Second Section), sitting on 3 May 2007 as a Chamber composed of: Mrs F. TULKENS, President, Mr A.B. BAKA, Mr R. TÜRMEN, Mr M. UGREKHELIDZE, Mr V. ZAGREBELSKY, Ms D. JOČIENĖ, Mr D. POPOVIĆ, judges, and Mrs F. ELENS-PASSOS, Section Deputy Registrar, Having regard to the above application lodged on 16 October 2003, Having regard to the decision to apply Article 29 § 3 of the Convention and examine the admissibility and merits of the case together, Having regard to the observations submitted by the respondent Government and the observations in reply submitted by the applicant, Having deliberated, decides as follows: THE FACTS The applicant, Mr Orhan Sapan, is a Turkish national who was born in 1963 and lives in Istanbul. He was represented before the Court by Mr E. Kanar, a lawyer practising in Istanbul. The Government did not appoint an agent to represent them.
2 SAPAN v. TURKEY – COMMUNICATED CASE A. The circumstances of the case The facts of the case, as submitted by the parties, may be summarised as follows. The applicant is the owner of the publishing company “Grandis İletişim Tanıtım ve Halkla İlişkiler Ltd (Chiviyazıları Yayınevi)”. In 2003 he published the Turkish translation of the book entitled “Juliette - Vice Amply Rewarded” by the Marquis de Sade. On 3 April 2003 the Istanbul Security Directorate laid a criminal information regarding the book, alleging that it undermined public morals, in breach of Article 426 of the Criminal Code. On 7 April 2003, at the request of the Kadıköy Public Prosecutor, the judge at the Kadıköy Magistrate Criminal Court ordered the seizure of copies of the book, holding that it provoked and exploited feelings and thus undermined public morals. On the same day, the decision of the criminal court was communicated to the security directorates, criminal courts and public prosecutors’ offices of the district and it was notified to the applicant. The seizure protocol drafted by the police and signed by an employee of the publishing company on 8 April 2003, recorded that copies of the book were not found in the publishing house, as they had already been distributed to the book shops. According to the applicant the latter, informed of the seizure order, returned the copies of the book to him. On 8 April 2003 after taking the applicant’s statements, the Kadıköy Public Prosecutor issued an advance payment order for 4,542,890,000 Turkish Liras (TRL). According to this order, in case of payment of the due amount within ten days from the date of issue, no criminal charges would be brought against the applicant. On 15 April 2003 the applicant filed an objection against the seizure order, arguing that there was an unjustified interference with his rights...