Euro Court fines Turkey over explosion killing one child, injuring two others

ISTANBUL

The European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) has fined Turkey for the lengthy proceedings of a case concerning the explosion of a device found by a group of children which killed one of them and seriously injured two others.

The ECHR fined Turkey a total of 11,000 euros for violating the right to a fair trial within a reasonable time, as stated in article six of the European Convention on Human Rights, in the case of a bomb explosion that killed one child and injured two others.

On March 13, 1999, in the Hani district of Turkey’s southeastern province of Diyarbakır, Turgay Ergin, a seven-year-old boy, was playing with Servat Evin, aged eight, when Suat Evin, aged 11, came up to them with an object he had found in a bin near a military shooting range. The object exploded in his hands, killing Ergin. The explosion also resulted in brain damage and a displaced cornea for Servat Evin, while Suat Evin had to have his left forearm amputated.

On Aug. 2, 1999, the Hani public prosecutor’s office concluded the death had been caused by the explosion of a bomb – originally an explosive device belonging to the armed forces – which had been prepared by outlawed Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) terrorists and left in a bin. Its efforts to identify the perpetrators were unsuccessful. On July 3, 2009, the case was discontinued as the prosecution had become time-barred.

Aysel Akdemir, Ergin’s mother, received a sum equivalent to 22,172 euros in January 2011, even though she had sought 52,859 euros when she first brought the compensation claim in 2000, and in January 2012, the Evin family was awarded the equivalent of 38,036 euros, though they had sought 70,150 euros in 2000.

The Court ruled for Turkey to pay 6,000 euros jointly to Suat Evin, Servet Evin and Fatma Evin, and 5,000 euros to Akdemir for non-pecuniary damages, as Turkey had violated the applicants’ right to a fair trial within a reasonable time.

Meanwhile, the Court also fined Turkey 21,550 euros for violating article three, which prohibits inhuman and degrading treatment, in the case of Şükrü Yıldız v. Turkey, concerning the applicant’s complaint about the treatment to which he was allegedly subjected during his arrest in December 2000 when police officers detained three suspects, including Yıldız, for writing illegal slogans on walls.