Reply to Written question
| Doc. 13656
| 06 January 2015
1. During the examination of the question
raised by the Honourable Parliamentarian to the Committee of Ministers,
the delegations of the Netherlands and Turkey underlined that the
case of Mr Baran constitutes no exception to the fruitful legal
co-operation between the two countries. In addition, they informed
the Committee of the following:
2. Mr Baran was convicted in absentia in the Netherlands for,
among other crimes, human trafficking, assault and participation
in a criminal organisation. He was sentenced to a prison term of
7 years and 9 months. This verdict became final on 11 September
2012. In addition, a financial criminal investigation is being conducted
in respect of Mr Baran, in the framework of which Turkey was requested
to seize Mr Baran’s properties.
3. In accordance with its own constitutional requirements, and
in line with the European Convention on Extradition, Turkey does
not extradite its own citizens. Therefore, as the two countries
are Parties to the European Convention on the International Validity
of Criminal Judgments, in April 2013, the Dutch authorities extended
a formal request to the Turkish authorities to transfer the execution
of the sentence to Turkey. Upon this request, the file was transmitted
to the Büyükçekmece Public Prosecution Office in Turkey which filed
a case before the Bakirköy High Criminal Court for the execution
of the prison sentence of Mr Baran. A hearing on the case took place
on 15 October 2014, during which the case was postponed until 24
December 2014 at the request of Mr Baran’s legal representative.
4. In addition, two separate judicial proceedings are pending
against Mr Baran in Turkey. The third High Criminal Court in Antalya
sentenced Mr Baran to an imprisonment of 2 years and 6 months for
“intentionally causing bodily injury to a person”. The fifth Criminal
Court of First Instance in Antalya sentenced him to an imprisonment
of 2 years and 1 month and a fine of 20.000 Turkish Lira for “money
laundering”. Both judgments have been appealed by Mr Baran and are
pending before the Court of Cassation of Turkey.
