Sinbo workers, who took action for “humane working and living conditions”, called for action in Ankara on 13 August 2021, led by the United Youth Assemblies and the All Automotive and Metal Workers’ Union. The police warned the workers walking to the protest area to “disperse”. The workers were taken into custody with the intervention made before they reached the area. The Ankara Chief Public Prosecutor’s Office decided that “there is no room for prosecution” in the investigation launched against the workers on the grounds that “they did not disperse despite the warning”.
In the decision, which was recorded as “passive resistance” by the workers, the decision of the ECtHR was emphasized that “it is foreseen that situations that may cause confusion and adverse reactions that will disrupt the flow of daily life to a certain extent do not justify interventions in the right to assembly and demonstration”, emphasizing that “people should not be deprived of their freedom of assembly and this It was pointed out that a degree of tolerance should be shown”. It was also noted in the decision that “the subject of a peaceful demonstration without violence to criminal prosecution would be disproportionate” and that “not dispersing despite a warning alone does not constitute a crime”.
“Are you above the law?”
Evaluating the decision to Cumhuriyet, lawyer Doğan Erkan asked the police, who intervened against the workers, “Are you, the prosecutor, above the law?” Erkan said, “This decision is in full compliance with the case law of the ECtHR. The prosecutor’s office should also send a copy of this decision to the law enforcement officers who took the action. We will also send it to the security branch. The police can no longer interfere with peaceful protests. The need to protect the right to peaceful assembly, which we have been saying for years, has been registered. We will make a criminal complaint to the police who ordered the unjust intervention and we will do our best to recourse the unfair detention compensation to the superiors who ordered the attack.”
