European judges fault Turkey for rubber-stamping prison visit recordings

The European Court of Human Rights ruled Turkey violated Abdi Cengiz's privacy rights by recording his family prison visits for a year without assessing his individual circumstances. Cengiz, convicted of belonging to an armed terrorist organization tied to the Gülen movement, had sought recognition of the violation and compensation.

The court found the reviewing judge merely checked that a legal basis existed for the recording, without weighing Cengiz's specific situation or his family's privacy against security needs, and that no maximum duration was ever considered. Turkey's Constitutional Court dismissed his complaint with what the ruling called a standard formula.

Turkey told the court monitoring had since stopped and recordings were deleted, but offered no acknowledgment of wrongdoing or redress. The court awarded Cengiz 1,500 euros, about $1,680, while rejecting his broader compensation and cost claims.

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