The Turkish teachers who were expelled from Moldova illegally appealed to the ECHR. The court found Moldova guilty and ruled for a fine of 125,000 euros for the teachers.
BOLD – European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) gave a decision to the application submitted by 5 educators who were detained and sent back to Turkey, for being the followers of the Hizmet Movement. The court ruled that there was a violation of human rights.
The Court held that there had been a violation of Article 5 – Sub-article 1 – of the European Convention on Human Rights and of Article 8 that is on Family and Private Life by Moldova in respect of the application. Moldova was sentenced to pay 25,000 euros as financial compensation for each Gulenist teacher.
HUMAN RIGHTS VIOLATION
Based on the justified decision, despite the teachers specified clearly that they carried a fear of being tried in Turkey, in their asylum applications to Moldova, they were not given the right to choose under which judicial system to be deported and were handed over to the Turkish authorities right away. This act was described as a violation of human rights.
It was stated that the plan to expel the Turkish teachers in a private plane with the joint operation of Moldova and Turkish secret services was made previously. It was also reported that the deportation form beared a violation as it was not conducted on judicial grounds.
It was noted that those who filed complaints were people who were adapted to society and had families in Moldova. The deportation of these people had resulted in a radical deterioration of private lives and a violation of the ECHR’s principle of respect for family and private life.
THE AMBASSADOR’S SLANDER
After July 15, 2016, Turkey’s Ambassador in Moldova had complained, claiming that the teachers working in the Orizont Schools -running in the country – had a role in the coup attempt.
Following this complaint, the secret service of Moldova and Turkish National Intelligence Service (MIT) kidnapped Yasin Özdil, Müjdat Çelebi, Rıza Doğan, Sedat Hasan Karacaoğlu and Mehmet Feridun Tüfekçi in a joint operation. A total of 7 people had been deported to Turkey in March 2018. According to the statement made by the ECHR, the applicants are yet detained in Turkey.