Ankara Bar Association appeals against Security Directorate’s circular

2021-05-03 15:00:03


	 

	ANKARA - The Ankara Bar Association has appealed to the Council of State and requested the annulment of the circular of the Directorate General of Security that bans recording voices and images during public incidents. 

	 

	The Ankara Bar Association has filed a lawsuit against the circular signed by General Director of Security Mehmet Aktaş and banning journalists and citizens from recording images and voices during public incidents. Appealing to the Council of State, the Ankara Bar Association has requested the stay of execution and annulment of the circular.

	 

	The petition submitted to the high court has noted that everyone has the right to seek their rights by using legitimate means as per the Article 36 of the Constitution. It has further underlined that the circular might lead to some irrecoverable consequences to the point that evidence concerning the Criminal Justice System might disappear or could not be collected.

	 

	Referring to the recent history of Turkey as well, the Ankara Bar Association has reminded the Council of State that "the material and immaterial damages incurred by the citizens subjected to the unjust intervention of police officers could be proven only thanks to video records."

	 

	Emphasizing the importance of the "state's reflex of protecting its citizens before public officers", the Bar has said, "The citizen is the unarmed, unauthorized and powerless side. The state has the obligation to prevent all types of interventions targeting the right to physical and mental integrity of the persons living within its field of sovereignty and control, to carry out an effective investigation and prosecution concerning the interventions that could not be prevented and to identify and penalize the responsible parties."

	 

	The petition has stressed that "the fact that violence stems from the state or from private legal persons does not affect the positive obligations of the state in that sense," adding that "under all circumstances, the state is obliged to protect its citizens from all types of unjust intervention."