The International League Against Arbitrary Detention urges the Government of Türkiye to take all the necessary actions to implement the United Nations Working Group on Arbitrary Detention Opinion No. 66/2023 concerning Cihangir Çenteli, asking the Government of Tükiye to immediately and unconditionally release him and to accord him an enforceable right to compensation and other reparations in accordance with international law.
Read the full WGAD Opinion concerning Cihangir Çenteli (Türkiye): Opinion No. 66/2023.
A MILITARY PILOT AND STAFF OFFICER DISMISSED AND ARRESTED IN RELATION TO THE 2016 COUP D'ETAT
Cihangir Çenteli is a Turkish national born in 1985, who worked as a military pilot in the air force and staff officer at the Military Academy.
On 28 September 2016, Mr. Çenteli was dismissed from his position. Two days later, he was asked to present himself at the Military Academy Command in Istanbul in order to explain his whereabouts and actions on the 15 July 2016, day during which an attempted coup d'état took place in Türkiye.
Upon reaching the Military Academy Command, he was immediately arrested by two police officers, and taken to a police department in Istanbul. On 17 August 2018, Mr. Çenteli was sentenced to life imprisonment, for the offence of attempting to overthrow the Turkish Constitutional order. Mr. Çenteli lodged two appeals, which were both rejected. At the time of the source's communication, Mr. Çenteli was serving his sentence at the Silivri Prison.
Though the Government was given the opportunity to answer these allegations, it chose not to.
ARRESTED WITHOUT A WARRANT AND KEPT IN PRE-TRIAL DETENTION FOR TWO YEARS
First, Mr. Çenteli was arrested without any arrest warrant and was not presented with the charges against him either. Besides, his detention was not ordered, nor subjected to the effective control of a judicial authority. As such, the Working Group considered Mr. Çenteli rights to security of person and to not be subjected to arbitrary detention, enshrined in the articles 3 and 9 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, as well as article 9(1) of the Covenant, were violated.
Secondly, not only Mr. Çenteli was not informed of the charges against him immediately following his arrest, but he only learned about them after nearly a year of detention. Specifically, he was informed that on the night of the attempted coup d’état, he was seen in one of the buildings belonging to the armed forces. As such, the Working Group found this situation to have violated Mr. Çenteli's right to be informed of the reasons of his arrest and to be promptly informed of the charges against him, based on article 9(2) of the Covenant.
Following his arrest, Mr. Çenteli was kept in pre-trial detention for nearly 2 years before being convicted, a time during which not only his detention was never reviewed, but also during which no alternative to his detention was examined. The Working Group reminded that such pre-trial detentions should be exceptional. Moreover, Mr. Çenteli was only brought before a judicial authority 12 days after his arrest, which the Working Group found not to be justifiable by the circumstances of the case. As such, the Working
Group established that for these reasons, Mr. Çenteli's rights not to be arbitrarily detained and to be promptly brought in front of a judge following his arrest, respectively guaranteed by article 9 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and article 9 (3) of the Covenant, had been violated.
Eventually, Mr. Çenteli was only allowed to see his lawyer 5 days following his arrest, though the conversation that lasted 30 seconds and was supervised by a police officer. Considering this, the Working Group found that Mr. Çenteli was denied access to legal assistance following his arrest, which violated his right to challenge the legality of his detention, protected under article 9(4) of the Covenant.
In light of the above, the Working Group established that Mr. Çenteli's arrest and detention were arbitrary under category I.
DENIED ACCESS TO LEGAL REPRESENTATION AND EVIDENCES, AND TRIED WITH UNDUE DELAY
To continue, the meetings of Mr. Çenteli with his lawyer were restricted, video and audio-recorded. Besides, as he was not informed of the charges against him, he could not prepare his defense during his pre-trial detention. As such, the Working Group found that Mr. Çenteli was deprived of his right to an effective legal representation, in violation of article 14(3)(b) of the Covenant.
On top of this, during his detention, Mr. Çenteli was prevented from accessing and reviewing the evidence against him. He was notably denied access to key evidence used against him, namely an audio and video footage showing him at one of the Army buildings on the day of the attempted coup. During his trial, Mr. Çenteli and his lawyers’ request to cross-examine witnesses was denied by the judge without justification. As such, the Working Group considered that Mr. Çenteli's rights to equality of arms, to a fair trial, and to be heard by a competent, independent and impartial tribunal, enshrined in articles 10 and 11(1) of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and 14(1), (3)(b) and (e) of the Covenant, were violated. The Working Group also recalled that, though there is no absolute right to access evidence, individuals deprived of liberty should have a right to access material related to their detention.
Lastly, the Working Group also expressed its concern about the fact that Mr. Çenteli was denied contact with his family. Moreover, considering that Mr. Çenteli was kept nearly 2 years in pre-trial detention without proper justification, the Working Group found that his right to be tried without undue delay, enshrined in article 14(3)(c) of the Covenant, was violated.
Therefore, the Working Group considered the detention of Mr. Çenteli was arbitrary under category III.
CONCLUSIONS OF THE UN WORKING GROUP AGAINST ARBITRARY DETENTION
In light of the foregoing, the United Nations Working Group on Arbitrary Detention considered that the detention of Cihangir Çenteli was arbitrary and fell under categories I and III because his deprivation of liberty was in contravention of articles 3, 9, 10 and 11 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and articles 9 and 14 of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights.
The Working Group urged the Government of Türkiye to conduct a full and independent investigation into Mr. Çenteli's arbitrary detention and to take appropriate action against those responsible for the violation of his rights. The Working Group recommended the Turkish Government to take without delay the necessary measures to remedy the situation of Mr. Çenteli and bring it into conformity with the relevant international standards. Given the circumstances of the case, the Working Group found that the apporpriate remedy would be to release Mr. Çenteli immediately and accord him an enforceable right to compensation and other reparations, in accordance with international law.
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