Political Persecution Submission at ECHR for Detained Turkish Journalist Ali Ünal

International Human Rights Advisors announces a significant development in the case of Ali Ünal ahead of World Press Freedom Day 2025 (3 May 2025).

C-founder and leading barrister, Ben Keith, is submitting expanded appeals to the European Court of Human Rights on behalf of Ali Ünal – a 70-year-old Turkish journalist and grandfather who has spent nearly nine years in Izmir F-Type High Security Prison.

Key Legal Arguments in the New Submission:

• Flagrant Denial of Justice (Article 6): Ünal was not informed of charges upon arrest, questioned without legal representation, denied the right to question witnesses, and faced a judiciary lacking impartiality
• Arbitrary Detention (Article 5): His detention lacks legal basis as it stems from procedural violations that vitiate any lawful grounds for deprivation of liberty
• No Punishment Without Law (Article 7): Charged for journalistic activities conducted before the Gülen movement was designated a terrorist organization – constituting retroactive application of criminal law
• Political Persecution (Article 18): The submission argues that restrictions on Ünal’s rights have an ulterior political motive – silencing dissent and targeting opposition voices
• UN Recognition: The UN Working Group on Arbitrary Detention has already declared his imprisonment arbitrary under Categories I, II, III, and V

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