ECHR fines Turkey for violating privacy of Australian man
STRASBOURG
The European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) has fined Turkey for violating the privacy of an Australian man, whom the country aired a non-blurred image of during a television broadcast in 1997.The judgement came as Dion Ross Bremner, an Australian national, filed a complaint with the ECHR in 1998, over the allegation that the broadcasting of a documentary – which was filmed with a hidden camera – showing Bremner promoting his evangelical Christian beliefs breached his right to respect for his private life, with the documentary described by its presenter as showing the covert activities of a “foreign peddler of religion,” the ECHR said in a press statement on Oct. 13.
The ECHR said it had concluded that Turkey had violated Article 8 of the European Convention on Human Rights – the right to respect for private and family life – and fined the country 7,500 euros for non-pecuniary damages.
The ECHR said the documentary included a meeting filmed with a hidden camera in a restaurant in the presence of Bremner, a person identified as A.N., and a group of friends of the latter who supposedly wished to learn more about Christianity.
The program’s presenter, in the company of police officers, then entered the room with a camera and a microphone, claiming to have heard about the meeting and wanting to join in before interviewing Bremner about his activities, the ECHR added, a meeting that led Bremner to spend a night in custody before being released the next day.
