The ECHR condemned on Tuesday “the domestic courts’ categorical approach to the use of ByLock”.
“Under that approach, anyone whose use of ByLock was established by the domestic courts could, in principle, be convicted on that sole basis of membership in an armed terrorist organisation,” the Strasbourg-based court said.
Gulen, a cleric who died in 2024, was once a close ally of President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan before the two became bitter enemies. He relocated to the United States in 1999 and never returned.
Ankara considers ByLock to be the preferred communication tool of those allegedly responsible for the failed coup in 2016, which left 250 people dead and was followed by mass arrests and purges on a scale unprecedented in Turkey’s modern history.
Authorities have detained more than 25,000 people accused of belonging to the Hizmet movement since then, some 9,000 of whom have been held in custody, according to the Istanbul prosecutor’s office.
ECHR sees ‘a systemic problem’
The ECHR noted that its Grand Chamber, whose rulings are binding, had already condemned Turkey on the same grounds in a similar case in September 2023.
It noted “a systemic problem” affecting a large number of people that must be resolved at the national level.
Since the Grand Chamber’s 2023 judgment, “the court has already given notice to the respondent government of 5,000 similar applications, and thousands more are still accumulating on its docket,” the ECHR added.
As of late June, Turkey had 21,050 pending applications to the court – which make up 35% of the total – followed Russia with 8,050 applications (13.4%) and Ukraine with 7,300 (12.1%).
(vib)