Turkey’s Constitutional Court said in a ruling that the authorities violated the rights of a prisoner by uploading his private correspondence on an online platform for accessing judicial documentation, the Kronos news website reported on Friday.
Muammer Kukul, jailed in Kocaeli province, had launched litigation against the authorities after he noticed that his incoming and outgoing letters were uploaded on UYAP, Turkey’s online system for individuals and legal professionals to access court files and other judicial services.
After a lower court found no violation had taken place, Kukul took his case to the Constitutional Court, which ruled that the practice was in violation of the right to private life and the freedom of communication, sending the case back to the lower court for retrial.
Prisoners in Turkey frequently face interference with their private communication. In some cases, their letters get partially or completely censored by prison authorities due to their political content or being written in Kurdish.
