Turkey tops ECHR list in freedom of expression violations in 2021

Turkey was the subject of the highest number of judgments regarding violations of freedom of expression in 2021, according to the European Court of Human Rights’ annual activity report.

Thursday January 27 2022 09:46 am

Duvar English

Turkey ranked first regarding violations of freedom of expression in 2021, the European Court of Human Rights’ (ECHR) annual activity report revealed on Jan. 25.

Among the total 85 judgments in which the court has found a violation of freedom of expression under Article 10 of the European Convention on Human Rights, 31 were filed by citizens of Turkey.

This is the 5th consecutive year that Turkey ranked first regarding violations of freedom of expression.

Turkey was followed by Russia with 19 cases.

Announcing 78 judgments regarding Turkey in 2021, the ECHR has ruled that there is a violation of human rights against Turkey in at least one article in 76 cases.

After freedom of expression, the court has found the violation of liberty and security in 29 cases against Turkey.

As for the total number of applications made to the ECHR, Turkey became first with 9,548 applications out of a total 44,250 in 2021.

The total applications to the ECHR increased about 6% according to the previous year, which was explained by “an increase in the number of allocated applications coming from Poland, Russia, Turkey and Greece.”

As for the pending cases, as of Dec. 31, 2021, Turkey ranked second after Russia, with 15,251 cases out of a total 70,150 applications.

During the period of 1959-2021, the court delivered 3,820 judgments for cases coming from Turkey, finding the country at fault in 3,385 of these cases.

With 3,385 violation rulings, Turkey is the country with the highest number of violations of the European Convention of Human Rights between 1959-2021. The court found violations of freedom of expression in 418 cases in this period, in which Turkey ranks first again.