The Constitutional Court had ruled to unblock Twitter before the March 30 local elections, but waited for the authorities to apply a stay of execution ruling before making it public, the court’s head judge Haşim Kılıç revealed April 7.
“The Constitutional Court met five days before the elections, on March 25. It debated the question and made a decision. But after that, we learned that a stay of execution was issued on the matter, so the court did not announce its decision,” Kılıç told journalists, referring to the ruling adopted by Ankara’s 15th Administrative Court. Following the ruling, Turkey’s telecommunications authority had 30 days to implement the decision and unblock access to the social media network, which it abstained to do.
“We waited for the implementation of the 15th Administrative Court’s decision. We waited a week or even longer,” Kılıç said.
‘No need for exhausting all legal avenues’
The court eventually ordered authorities to lift the access ban on April 2, adding it constituted a violation of free speech guaranteed by Article 26 of the Constitution.
However, the decision was harshly slammed by Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, who said the government would comply with it, but personally he did not “respect it.” He also criticized the court for handling that particular case in urgency while “a number of other cases are expecting” to be reviewed and making a decision before all other legal avenues were exhausted.
But Kılıç said the swift review of the applications regarding Twitter should not be considered peculiar.
“We do understand that some of the reactions might have been emotional. But in those cases, applications are made to the Constitutional Court and the European Court of Human Rights and occasionally these are reviewed before all the legal paths are taken, considering the importance and the sensitivity of the case,” Kılıç said.
He confirmed that the decision to unblock Twitter was made by the unanimity of the panel of judges.
“The Constitutional Court was forced to make public its decision after [the stay of execution] was not implemented. After all, it’s a decision that was made in unanimity during a meeting, which I presided,” he said.
Kılıç also stressed that the decision was based on universal law as a response of Erdoğan's statement criticizing it as contrary to "national values."
Twitter was banned March 20 hours after Erdoğan vowed to “eradicate” the popular social media network during an election rally, triggering an almost global outcry and ridicule.
Source/Fuente: http://www.hurriyetdailynews.com/constitutional-court-ruled-to-unblock-t...
