The European rights court rules Turkey’s jailing of a UN judge after a coup attempt was unlawful

ISTANBUL — A United Nations judge was unlawfully imprisoned when he was arrested in Turkey following an attempted coup in 2016, despite his diplomatic immunity, the European Court of Human Rights said on Tuesday.

The court ruled that Aydin Sefa Akay’s arrest, pre-trial detention and search of his home and person had been unlawful. It said his detention was extended despite letters from the UN declaring his right to diplomatic immunity and calling for his release and an end to the case against him.

The court added that Akay’s right to freedom, security and respect for private life had been violated and ordered Turkey to pay him 28,100 euros ($29,955) in damages and costs.

But it rejected his appeal to be released, saying the findings only related to his pre-trial detention and not his current prison sentence. Akay was convicted of terrorism in June 2017 and sentenced to seven years and six months in prison.

The conviction was upheld in February 2021, more than two years after his term as a UN judge ended, and Akay, who is in his mid-70s, is now serving his sentence in Rize Prison on the Black Sea coast. The European Court said his current detention stemmed from the 2021 decision.

Akay, a former legal adviser at the Turkish Foreign Ministry and representative to the Council of Europe, was working as a judge for the UN criminal tribunal mechanism when he was detained at his home in Istanbul. He was among thousands of Turks arrested during the crackdown on the group Ankara blamed for the failed military coup in July 2016.

He was charged with membership of an armed terrorist organization, namely a group led by US-based preacher Fethullah Gülen.

Turkish authorities have labeled the Gülen movement as a terrorist group they call the Fethullahist Terror Organization.

Gülen, who lives in Pennsylvania, denies any involvement in the attempted coup, which left more than 250 people dead when rogue militants stormed Istanbul’s Bosphorus Bridge and bombed targets in the capital Ankara, including parliament.

Turkey has three months to request that the judgment be referred to a chamber of a higher court.

The European Court of Human Rights is located in Strasbourg, France, and oversees allegations of violations of civil and political rights.