- Title: U.N. judge caught in Turkey's post-coup dragnet
- Date: 9th November 2016
- Summary: NEW YORK, NEW YORK, UNITED STATES (NOVEMBER 9, 2016) (REUTERS) JUDGE THEODOR MERON, PRESIDENT OF THE MECHANISM FOR INTERNATIONAL CRIMINAL TRIBUNALS (MICT) TALKING (SOUNDBITE) (English) JUDGE THEODOR MERON, PRESIDENT OF THE MECHANISM FOR INTERNATIONAL CRIMINAL TRIBUNALS (MICT), SAYING: "I am very concerned because we are getting from Turkey absolutely no news. As you may know some time ago, I officially requested from the government of Turkey authorization to go to Turkey to visit the judge. And I explained to the government of Turkey that I would like to have a confidential meeting, conversation with him. And also I would like to ascertain his conditions of detention. Absolutely no answer." (SOUNDBITE) (English) JUDGE THEODOR MERON, PRESIDENT OF THE MECHANISM FOR INTERNATIONAL CRIMINAL TRIBUNALS (MICT), SAYING: "I am not terribly optimistic about the conditions of detention to which he his subject. We all know about how many people are detained in Turkey. So I'm naturally worried about the fate of my judicial colleague." (SOUNDBITE) (English) JUDGE THEODOR MERON, PRESIDENT OF THE MECHANISM FOR INTERNATIONAL CRIMINAL TRIBUNALS (MICT), SAYING: "He was accused of being involved in attempts against the Constitutional order of Turkey. In other words, some kind of terrorist activities. But what is significant here is that after his arrest, Turkey sent no documentation whatsoever either to the United Nations or to the United Nations Secretary-General nor to me as president of the Tribunal. As you know, recently the United Nations has asserted for Judge Akay full diplomatic immunity. We have not heard any response for that assertion. But what that assertion means is that until he is released, Turkey is in continuing violation of a statute adopted by the United Nations Security Council under chapter 7 of the UN Charter. This is quite a serious matter." (SOUNDBITE) (English) JUDGE THEODOR MERON, PRESIDENT OF THE MECHANISM FOR INTERNATIONAL CRIMINAL TRIBUNALS (MICT), SAYING: "This is a very serious matter as this is the first time in the history of modern international criminal justice that a state has arrested a United Nations judge serving on a case." (SOUNDBITE) (English) JUDGE THEODOR MERON, PRESIDENT OF THE MECHANISM FOR INTERNATIONAL CRIMINAL TRIBUNALS (MICT), SAYING: "The case is now completely blocked. We cannot proceed with the case. I am presiding over the panel of judges, but following judicial traditions I can do nothing unless I can consult and access all the judges serving with me on the panel." JUDGE MERON WALKING
- Embargoed: 24th November 2016 23:06
- Keywords: Turkey coup United Nations UN judge Akay Meron
- Location: NEW YORK, NEW YORK, UNITED STATES / ARUSHA, UNITED REPUBLIC OF TANZANIA
- City: NEW YORK, NEW YORK, UNITED STATES / ARUSHA, UNITED REPUBLIC OF TANZANIA
- Country: USA
- Topics: Government/Politics,United Nations
- Reuters ID: LVA00257Q8Q4N
- Aspect Ratio: 16:9
- Story Text: EDITORS PLEASE NOTE: THIS EDIT CONTAINS MATERIAL WHICH WAS ORIGINALLY 4:3
WHITE FLASHES SEPARATE THE SOUNDBITES
A Turkish judge on the U.N. court trying crimes from the Yugoslav wars and the Rwandan genocide has been arrested in Turkey in connection with July's coup attempt, the court's president said.
Turkey has ignored requests to visit Judge Aydin Sedaf Akay since his arrest on Sept. 21, despite his diplomatic immunity, and this risked violating his judicial independence, court president Theodor Meron said on Wednesday (November 9).
"I explained to the government of Turkey that I would like to have a confidential meeting, conversation with him. And also I would like to ascertain his conditions of detention. Absolutely no answer," Meron said.
"I am not terribly optimistic about the conditions of detention to which he his subject. We all know about how many people are detained in Turkey. So I'm naturally worried about the fate of my judicial colleague," he added.
The arrest is believed to be the first occasion on which a U.N. judge's immunity has been violated. "This is quite a serious matter," Meron said.
At the time of his arrest, Akay was due to hear an appeal in the case against Augustin Ngirabatware, a Rwandan politician who was sentenced in 2012 to 35 years in prison for genocide.
Meron said, "The case is now completely blocked. We cannot proceed with the case. I am presiding over the panel of judges, but following judicial traditions I can do nothing unless I can consult and access all the judges serving with me on the panel."
Turkish authorities have arrested tens of thousands of people, including teachers, public officials and journalists, since the failed coup, which President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has blamed on supporters of the controversial Muslim cleric Fethullah Gulen.
Critics have accused Erdogan of using the purge to rid himself of opponents and say many with no links to the coup attempt or Gulen's movement have been caught up in the dragnet.
A former diplomat, Akay was appointed a judge on the tribunal trying perpetrators of the 1994 Rwanda genocide in 2009 and later became a judge on the Mechanism for the International Criminal Tribunals (MICT), its successor. - Copyright Holder: REUTERS
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