Item 1 - Zübeyir Dündar v Turkey, Application No: 26972/95, Applicant's Reply to the Government's Observations

12pp

Response of the applicant to the observations of the Turkish Government on the application of Zübeyir Dündar to the European Commission of Human Rights. The reply notes that the Government appears to have made no attempt to locate or interview the witnesses referred to in the application, or any other witnesses, regarding the death and strangulation/dragging of Mesut Dündar. The reply also states that the Government's fear of the body of Mesut Dündar being booby-trapped is inherently implausible as it would have been foolish to disturb the body by attaching a rope or wire to it, notes that the photographs contained in the application's appendices show a number of security officers standing close to the body, and notes that the condition of Mesut's body and clothes as describes are consistent with his having been dragged a much longer distances than the respondent Government contends. The reply also refutes the idea that the application was submitted beyond the allowed time limit, as 'It was only after about 20 September 1994 that it became clear to the Applicant that the respondent Government were not taking, and would not take, the inquiry into his son's death seriously, and that there was no propsect of obtaining redress other than by applying to the Commission.' (2 copies)

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