CEDH · CASELAW;JUDGMENTS;CHAMBER;ENG — 15 février 2007

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text-align:justify; page-break-inside:avoid; page-break-after:avoid } .s53E9AB06 { margin-top:36pt; margin-bottom:0pt; text-align:right; page-break-inside:avoid; page-break-after:avoid } .s5E1364CA { margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:12pt; text-align:center; page-break-inside:avoid; page-break-after:avoid; font-size:14pt } .sF6A12959 { width:33%; height:1px; text-align:left } .s85226119 { margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt; text-align:justify; font-size:10pt } .s653E6C45 { font-family:Arial; font-size:6.67pt; vertical-align:super; color:#0069d6 }     THIRD SECTION     CASE OF YÜKSEL ERDOĞAN AND OTHERS v. TURKEY     (Application no. 57049/00)     JUDGMENT     STRASBOURG   15 February 2007         FINAL     15/05/2007     This judgment will become final in the circumstances set out in Article   44 §   2 of the Convention. It may be subject to editorial revision. In the case of Yüksel Erdoğan and Others v. Turkey, The European Court of Human Rights (Third Section), sitting as a Chamber composed of:   Mr   B.M. Zupančič , President ,   Mr   J. Hedigan ,   Mr   R. Türmen ,   Mrs   A. Gyulumyan ,   Mr   E. Myjer ,   Mrs   I. Ziemele ,   Mrs   I. Berro-Lefèvre, judges , and Mr S. Quesada , Section Registrar , Having deliberated in private on 25 January 2007, Delivers the following judgment, which was adopted on that date: PROCEDURE 1.     The case originated in an application (no. 57049/00) against the Republic of Turkey lodged with the Court under Article 34 of the Convention for the Protection of Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms (“the Convention”) by nine Turkish nationals, Mr Yüksel Erdoğan, Mrs   Meliha Erdoğan, Mr Sinan Erdoğan, Mrs Bahar Sağlam, Mr   Şinasi   Yalçın, Mr Hüsnü Yalçın, Mr Ali Yalçın, Mr Ramazan Erdoğan and Mrs Raşidiye Erdoğan (“the applicants”), on 25 February 2000. 2.     The applicants were represented by Mr B. Aşçı, Mr M. Narin and Mrs   A.N. Çelik, Mr M. Köylüoğlu, Mr C. Yücel and Mr H.İ. Türkyılmaz, lawyers practising in Istanbul. The Turkish Government did not designate an Agent for the purposes of the proceedings before the Court. 3.     The applicants alleged under Article 2 of the Convention that their relatives, Fuat Erdoğan, Elmas Yalçın and İsmet Erdoğan, had been unlawfully killed by the security forces and that the authorities had failed to conduct an effective investigation into the circumstances of the case. They further maintained under Article 6 of the Convention that the criminal proceedings brought against the police officers had not been concluded within a “reasonable time”. 4.     On 11 March 2005 the Court decided to give notice of the application to the Government. Under the provisions of Article 29 § 3 of the Convention, it decided to examine the merits of the application at the same time as its admissibility. 5.     On 2 May 2005 the Registry requested the applicants' representatives to submit a power of attorney signed by two of the applicants, namely Mr   Ramazan Erdoğan and Mrs Raşidiye Erdoğan by 13 May 2005. 6.     On 16 May 2005 one of the applicants' representatives requested an extension of one month of the time allowed for submission of the power of attorney on the ground that these applicants lived in another city. On 7   June   2005 the Registry informed the applicants' representatives that the President of the Chamber had agreed to grant the extension requested. The applicants' representatives were also warned that the case might be struck out of the list for lack of interest. In a letter dated 29 September 2006 the applicants' representatives were once again warned that the case might be struck out of the list for lack of interest. 7.     No response was received by the Court to the letters of 16 May and 29   September 2006. THE FACTS I.     THE CIRCUMSTANCES OF THE CASE 8.     The applicants' dates of birth and their relationship to the three persons who were killed are described as follows: Yüksel Erdoğan (1943) and   Meliha Erdoğan (1942) are the parents and Sinan Erdoğan (1962) and Bahar Sağlam (1970) are the siblings of the late İsmet Erdoğan. Şinasi Yalçın (1970), Hüsnü Yalçın (1952) and Ali   Yalçın (1954) are the brothers of the late Elmas Yalçın. Ramazan Erdoğan and Raşidiye Erdoğan are the parents of the late Fuat Erdoğan. A.     The killing of İsmet Erdoğan, Elmas Yalçın and Fuat Erdoğan and the subsequent investigation into the circumstances of their death 9.     On 28 September 1994 Fuat Erdoğan, Elmas Yalçın and İsmet Erdoğan were killed in the Arzum café in Beşiktaş, a central district in Istanbul, by police officers from the Anti-Terror Branch of the Istanbul Security Directorate. According to a report (ihbar tutanağı) drafted by two police officers on the same date at 3.45 pm, the Security Directorate received an anonymous phone call on the Security Directorate's internal telephone number 139. The caller informed the police that he had seen two men and a woman in Beşiktaş and that one of the men had given a weapon to the woman. He also told the police officer that these three persons were in the Arzum café. 10.     On the same day, an arrest report (olaylı   yakalama ve zaptetme tutanağı) was drawn up by eight police officers from the Anti-Terror Branch of the Istanbul Security Directorate. According to this report, after having received the anonymous phone call, the police officers arrived at the Arzum café. They told the suspects, who were on the second floor of the café, that they were police officers and requested them to submit their identity cards. The suspects started shouting and opened fire. The officers then ordered the suspects to surrender and responded to their firing in order to protect themselves. When they realised that there was no more gunfire coming from the suspects they stopped the fire. They then saw that the three suspects were dead and informed the public prosecutor. The identity cards found on the deceased bore different names to those of the applicants' relatives. Furthermore, two firearms, three chargers, six cartridges of 7,65 mm calibre, five empty cartridges of 7,65 mm calibre, twenty empty cartridges of 9 mm calibre and five bullets were found next to two of the corpses. The police officers also found some documents on one of the male corpses. 11.     On the same day, at 8.10 pm, the Istanbul public prosecutor drew up a report, according to which he arrived at the scene of the incident after having received a phone call from the central police station at 5.10 pm. He maintained in the report that a medical doctor from the Forensic Medicine Institute had been invited to examine the corpses. The medical doctor arrived at the scene of the incident at 7.10 pm and examined the corpses, which were then sent to the morgue of the Forensic Medicine Institute. According to the report, the police officers from the Technical Office of the Istanbul Security Directorate took the fingerprints of the deceased in order to determine their identity. The public prosecutor further ordered that the bullets, cartridges and the two firearms that had been found next to the corpses be handed over to the police officers from the Technical Office of the Istanbul Security Directorate. However, they were given to A.B., one of the police officers who had been involved in the police operation in question. 12.     On the same day, two police officers took statements from N.A., C.A. and S.A., three persons who ran the Arzum café.   N.A. confirmed the arrival of the deceased at the café, but that when the police officers arrived 15   to 20 minutes later, she had not been inside the café. She contended that she had heard the police officers ordering the suspects to surrender and then heard the shooting. N.A. further contended that she had subsequently learned that the suspects had been terrorists and killed in the café during the armed clash. N.A. finally stated that she did not know the deceased. 13.     C.A. and S.A. contended that when the police officers arrived they ordered the suspects to surrender. They maintained that they had left the café when the police officers asked them and their clients to leave. While they were leaving they heard gunfire. They contended that they had subsequently learned that the deceased had been terrorists and had died as a result of the armed clash. 14.     On 29 September 1994 autopsies were carried out on the deceased. The autopsy reports were drafted on 20 October 1994. 15.     According to the report concerning Fuat Erdoğan, he had received two bullets to his head and three bullets to other parts of his body. Two bullet entry wounds were observed on the right and left temples. The other three bullets entered in the body from the upper parts of the left and right femur and below the left scapula. The bullet exit wounds were observed next to the xiphoid [1] , above the scrotum and next to the pubic bone. The cause of his death was stated as fracture of the skull, internal bleeding and cerebral haemorrhage. The experts further noted that a paraffin test, which was to be conducted to detect gunpowder in the hands of the deceased, could not be carried out as there was ink on both of his hands due to the taking of fingerprints by police officers at the scene of the incident. 16.     The report concerning İsmet Erdoğan revealed that he had received two bullets to his body. The bullet entry wounds were seen on the right of the parietal bone and on the scapular line on the back. One bullet exit wound was observed on the left ear. The report concluded that his death resulted from fracture of the skull, cerebral haemorrhage and damage to the cerebral tissue. 17.     According to the report regarding Elmas Yalçın, she had received one bullet to her head and one to her abdomen. The bullet entry wounds were seen on the right of the parietal bone and the right of the abdomen. The bullet exit wounds were observed in the middle of her lower lip and on the right gluteus. The cause of her death was also determined as fracture of the skull, cerebral haemorrhage and damage to the cerebral tissue. The experts further noted that there was ink on both of her hands due to the taking of fingerprints by police officers at the scene of the incident. 18.     According to the autopsy reports, all of the shots were fired at long range. 19.     By a letter dated 30 September 1994 the director of the anti-terror branch sent a Browning firearm, an Unique firearm, two chargers, twenty empty cartridges of 9 mm calibre, five empty cartridges of 7,65 mm calibre , six cartridges, four bullets of 9 mm calibre and one bullet of 7,65 mm calibre to the Istanbul Regional Criminal Police Laboratory for a ballistic examination. The director stated in his letter that these items had been found near the corpses and belonged to the deceased. 20.     On 5 October 1994 a ballistic examination of the two firearms, bullets and cartridges found at the scene of the incident was conducted by two experts from the Istanbul Regional Criminal Police Laboratory. According to the report drawn up by these experts, five empty cartridges and a bullet of 7,65 mm calibre were discharged from the two firearms that had been found in the vicinity of the corpses and the remaining twenty cartridges and four bullets of 9   mm calibre were discharged from the police officers' firearms. On the same day, the deputy director of the Criminal Police Laboratory informed the anti-terror branch that the firearms examined had not been previously used in committing any other offence. 21.     On 6 October 1994 N.A., S.A. and C.A. made statements before the Istanbul public prosecutor. N.A. maintained that she had not been in the café at the time of the incident and that when she had been contacted on the phone, she had been told that there had been a clash between terrorists and police officers. When she arrived at the Arzum café the clash was already over and the suspects were dead. When the public prosecutor stressed that there had been a contradiction between her statements given before him and those given to the police, N.A. stated that she had not been in the café when the suspects arrived. She contended that while she was leaving the café, she heard some police officers giving orders to surrender. 22.     S.A. and C.A. told the public prosecutor that N.A. had not been in the café when the suspects had arrived. They contended that they had been told to leave the café by plainclothes police officers. They then heard the police orders to surrender and went to the neighbouring shop. They stated that they had heard gunfire and had subsequently learned that the three suspects were dead. 23.     On 18 October 1994 three experts from the Forensic Medicine Institute conducted an examination of the clothes of the deceased. The experts concluded that the shots were not fired at short range. They further considered that it was not possible to determine the exact range of the shootings. 24.     On 1 November 1994 the director of the anti-terror branch of the Istanbul Security Directorate sent the tapes and the transcripts of two television programmes concerning the incident, during which journalists interviewed N.A., the owner of the Arzum café and an unidentified witness. N.A. maintained that she had been outside the café when the police officers arrived at the café, 10 or 15 minutes after the arrival of the deceased. She further contended that she had been told that the police officers had ordered the clients to surrender and that, as the latter had not accepted to surrender, the police officers had opened fire. The other eyewitness stated that the police officers had entered the café and asked the deceased to surrender. He further maintained that the suspects had opened fire first and that the police officers had responded by opening fire, which resulted in a clash. The eyewitness however contended that he had not been in the café at the time of the incident, but outside with other police officers. 25.     On 4 November 1994 the Istanbul public prosecutor obtained statements from two police officers, R.A. and H.K. The officers maintained that there had been gunfire coming from the suspects and that they had responded to the fire in order to frighten the suspects and make them stop the firing. 26.     On 21 November 1994 the public prosecutor obtained statements from Ş.K and A.B. who contended that the police officers had opened fire in order to frighten the suspects and that they had not had the intention to kill them. A.B. further maintained that police officers wearing bullet-proof vests had entered the café while he and some other police officers had been outside, as they had taken security measures around the café. B.     Criminal proceedings against the police officers 27.     On 22 November 1994 the Istanbul public prosecutor filed a bill of indictment with the Istanbul Assize Court against four police officers, Ş.K., M.K., R.A. and H.K., from the Anti-Terror Branch of the Istanbul Security Directorate. He issued a non-prosecution decision regarding B.A., another suspected police officer, since he had died. The charges were brought under Articles   450 § 5, 463, 281, 31, 33, 50 and 49 §§ 1 and 3 of the Criminal   Code. The defendants were accused of manslaughter - without the actual offender being identified - during an armed clash between the deceased suspects and the security forces. 28.     On 29 November 1994 the Istanbul Assize Court held the first hearing. 1.     Hearing of 9 February 1995 29.     On 9 February 1995 one of the applicants, Yüksel Erdoğan, and Elmas Yalçın's father, Mustafa Yalçın intervened as a civil party (müdahil) to the criminal proceedings brought against the officers. On the same day, the first-instance court ordered the ballistic examination of the empty cartridges and decided that the defendants would not be detained on remand throughout the proceedings in accordance with Article 15 § 1 of the Prevention of Terrorism Act. The court further ordered that the firearms which had been given to A.B. be sent to the custody office (adliye emanet memurluğu) of the Istanbul Courts. 2.     Hearings of 5 May and 6 July 1995 30.     On 5 May 1995 the accused police officers made statements before the Istanbul Assize Court. They all maintained that when they had arrived at the Arzum café they had taken the two persons who ran the café outside. They then entered the café and told the suspects that they were police officers. The suspects however opened fire. The defendants further contended that there had been gunfire emanating from the suspects and that in order to frighten the latter and protect themselves, they responded to the gunfire. One of the defendants, Ş.K. maintained that he had not opened fire. The defendants all contended that they had not been wearing bullet-proof vests when they had entered the café. On the same day, two witnesses E.M. and N.Ç., police officers from the anti-terror Branch of the Istanbul Security Directorate, also made statements before the court. They contended that they had been outside the café. Therefore, they did not witness the clash but heard the accused police officers ordering the suspects to surrender. 31.     During the hearing, the intervening parties' lawyers requested the court to ask the defendants certain questions concerning the trajectory of the bullets and the range of the shootings. The Istanbul Assize Court dismissed these requests holding that it was not necessary to have responses to these questions. 32.     On the same day, the first-instance court ordered that the defendants' firearms be handed over for a ballistic examination. It further ordered that the bullets which had been found at the scene of the incident be subject to an examination with a view to determining which of these bullets and cartridges were discharged from the defendants' weapons. 33.     At the end of the hearing of 6 July 1995 the first-instance court once again ordered that the defendants' firearms be sent for a ballistic examination. 3.     Hearings of 30 October and 13 December 1995 and the subsequent developments 34.     On 30 October 1995 the Istanbul Assize Court further heard four witnesses, A.B., police officer from the Anti-Terror Branch, N.A., C.A. and S.A., three persons who ran the Arzum café. A.B. maintained that he had not been inside the coffee shop and had not witnessed the incident, yet, he had heard the officers warning the suspects. He contended that as soon as the police officers entered the café, he had heard one gun shot and that he did not know whether it was the police officers or the suspects who had fired first. He further contended that he had signed the arrest report and that he could not remember the exact location of the firearms at the scene of the incident. A.B. finally maintained that he did not remember who had given the warnings to the deceased. N.A., the owner of the Arzum café, testified that she had not been in the café on the day of the incident and that she had been informed about the incident by her sister S.A. She further contended that the windows in the café had not been struck by the bullets. When the first-instance court reiterated her statement before the police and emphasised that there was a contradiction between the two statements, she maintained that she had taken tranquillizers before her statements had been taken by the police and that she had signed these statements without having read them. S.A. and C.A contended that they had been told by the police officers to go outside and that they had not witnessed the incident. C.A. maintained that she had heard the officers' warnings but as she had been in another shop she had not heard anything else. She contended that she did not remember how much time after hearing the officers the gunshots had started. S.A. witnessed that she had heard the officers' ordering the suspects to surrender. S.A. further contended that 2 to 3 seconds after hearing the officers speak, she heard gun shots which had lasted 2 to 3 minutes. She maintained that the glass of a cupboard, which had been on the ground floor, had been broken during the incident and that it could not have been broken by a bullet coming from the suspects unless the bullet ricocheted from the wall. S.A. finally stated that she did not have any information as to the position of the corpses on the second floor of the café as the police officers had not authorised her to go upstairs. 35.     On the same day, the first-instance court once again ordered that the firearms of the defendants be handed over for ballistic examination following receipt of a letter from the Istanbul Security Directorate refusing to give these firearms on the ground that the defendants would not be secure without their weapons. 36.     During the same hearing, the intervening parties requested the court to order the defendants' detention on remand since they failed to attend the hearings without a justification. The public prosecutor opined that the defendants should be requested to state their reasons for not attending the hearings. The defendants' lawyer requested that the defendants be exempted from attending the hearings. The Istanbul Assize Court accepted the latter's request on the ground that the defendants and the witnesses had already been heard. The court further held that an on-site inspection be conducted after receiving the ballistic examination report from the Forensic Medicine Institute. 37.     On an unspecified date, the Istanbul Security Directorate sent to the Istanbul Assize Court six firearms which had been used by the accused police officers at the incident on 28   September 1994. 38.     On 13 December 1995 the first-instance court decided to send the defendants' firearms as well as the bullets and the empty cartridges found at the scene of the incident and one bullet extracted from İsmet Erdoğan's body to the Forensic Medicine Institute for a ballistic examination with a view to determining which of these bullets and cartridges had been discharged from the defendants' weapons. 39.     On 8 January 1996 experts from the Forensic Medicine Institute conducted an examination of the defendants' firearms, two 9 mm calibre bullets that were found at the scene of the incident and one 9 mm calibre bullet that had been extracted from İsmet Erdoğan's body. The experts concluded that neither of the 9 mm calibre bullets had been discharged from the police officers' firearms. 4.     Hearing of 22 April 1996 and the subsequent developments 40.     On 22 April 1996, the ballistic report was read out before the court. The intervening parties opined that the barrels or the firing pins of the firearms could have been changed and requested that the first-instance court ask for information as to whether there had been any such change. The intervening parties further requested that the empty cartridges also be sent to the Forensic Medicine Institute for examination and that a determination be made as to whether the three 9 mm calibre bullets matched the empty cartridges. They finally asked the court to hold an on-site inspection in the Arzum café as they had been informed that the café would be renovated. The public prosecutor agreed with the intervening parties. 41.     On the same day, the Istanbul Assize Court decided that the defendants' firearms as well as the firearms, bullets and cartridges, found near the deceased and extracted from one of the corpses be sent for a new examination. Forensic experts were requested to give information in order to determine whether the three 9 mm calibre bullets matched the empty cartridges and whether the latter had been discharged from one of the firearms belonging to the police officers or the deceased. The court further decided to request the Istanbul Security Directorate to provide information as to whether the barrels or the firing pins of the firearms had been changed after 28   September 1994. It finally decided to hold an on-site inspection in the Arzum café on 18   June   1996. 42.     On 31 May and 20 June 1996 the Istanbul Assize Court received two letters from the Istanbul Security Directorate. The letter of 31 May 1996 stated that the Directorate did not have any information as to whether the parts of the firearms had been changed whereas the second letter stated that the firearms' parts had not been changed. 43.     On 18 June 1996 the judges of the Istanbul Assize Court, an expert, the four accused police officers and their representative as well as the intervening parties' representatives went to the Arzum café for an on-site inspection. However, as the Arzum café had been renovated in the meantime, the court could not conduct the inspection at the scene of the incident in the absence of the witnesses who had run the café at the time of the incident. The first-instance court therefore decided to hold an on-site inspection in the presence of the witnesses. 5.     Hearing of 11 July 1996 and the subsequent developments 44.     On 11 July 1996 the Istanbul Assize Court decided to request more information from the Security Directorate as the letters of 31 May and   20   June 1996 were contradictory. It further ordered that a ballistic examination be conducted. The court finally decided to conduct an on-site inspection with the attendance of all defendants, witnesses and intervening parties on 11 October 1996. 45.     On 24 July 1996 the deputy director of the Istanbul Security Directorate sent a letter to the Istanbul Assize Court, maintaining that any change in the firearms could only be determined by a criminal laboratory examination and that such a change constituted a criminal offence. 46.     On 28 August 1996 experts from the Forensic Medicine Institute conducted a new ballistic examination. The ballistic report confirmed the findings of the Istanbul Regional Criminal Police Laboratory's report of 5   October 1994. It further revealed that twenty 9 mm calibre cartridges out of twenty-two, which had been submitted to the experts, were discharged from the firearms numbered MP5-3793, T-1192 and 245 PV 30170. The first firearm belonged to H.K., the second belonged to B.A., and the third weapon belonged to Ş.K. According to the report four 9 mm calibre bullets also matched with B.A.'s firearm numbered T-1192. As regards the 9   mm   calibre bullet which had been extracted from İsmet Erdoğan's body and the two other 9 mm calibre bullets found close to the Fuat Erdoğan's corpse, the forensic experts reached a different conclusion than their previous findings. They opined that the first bullet was discharged from the firearm numbered T-1192 and the other two bullets were discharged from the firearms numbered T-1192 and 245   PV 30170. These firearms belonged respectively to B.A. and Ş.K. 47.     On 3 September 1996 three of the accused police officers, Ş.K., R.A. and H.K. were served with an order of the Istanbul Assize Court, requesting them to attend the on-site inspection on 11 October 1996. The fourth accused officer, M.K., could not be served on the order as he had been appointed to a post in Erzurum. 48.     On 11 October 1996 the judges of the Istanbul Assize Court, an expert, one of the intervening parties, Ali Yalçın, his representative, N.A., S.A. and two police officers who had been heard as witnesses, E.M. and N.Ç. conducted an on-site inspection. During the inspection, N.A. and S.A. contended that the stairs going to the second floor of the café remained unchanged. S.A. further showed the judges the table where the deceased had been sitting and the location of the bullet traces on the walls of the second floor on the day of the incident. The police officers maintained that they had been outside the café at the time of the incident and did not have any information as to how the killing occurred. N.Ç. further maintained that the deceased had not been given the warnings by a megaphone and that he did not remember the position of the corpses on the second floor. 49. Following the on-site inspection, on 22 October 1996, the expert who had been present at the inspection drafted a report and produced a sketch map showing the location of the café, the bullet traces, and the position of the corpses at the time of the incident. 6.     Hearings of 23 October and 23 December 1996, 20 February and 5   May 1997 50.     On 23 October 1996 two of the applicants, Ali Yalçın and Hüsnü   Yalçın, also joined the proceedings as a civil party. 51.     On 23 December 1996 the intervening parties requested the first ‑ instance court to broaden the scope of the investigation, claiming that the sketch map was erroneous and that technical expertise was needed regarding the trajectory of the bullets in the deceased's bodies. 52.     On 20 February 1997 one of the applicants, Şinasi Yalçın, joined the criminal proceedings as a civil party. On the same day, the first-instance court held that it was not necessary to correct the sketch maps and requested the intervening parties to submit their observations on the merits of the case during the next hearing. 53.     On 5 May 1997 the intervening parties once again requested the first ‑ instance court to broaden the scope of the investigation. They requested, in particular, that the transcripts of police radio communications of 28 September 1994 be drafted and information be requested from the General Security Directorate as to whether the operation conducted on 29   September 1994 had been one of the “secret” operations that had been told to be conducted by Mehmet Ağar, the Minister of the Interior at the material time. They further requested that the officers who had drafted the autopsy reports be heard as witnesses and that the Türk Telekom be requested to submit information as to whether there had been any call made to the Istanbul Security Directorate as was mentioned in the report drafted at 3.45 pm on 29 September 1994. The intervening parties further requested the first-instance court to hear a pathologist as a witness in order to determine the exact shooting ranges and to order the relevant authorities to submit information as to whether the firearms allegedly found next to the corpses had been the special teams' weapons. The first-instance court requested the public prosecutor to submit his observations on the intervening parties' requests and, therefore, decided to postpone the hearing. 7.     Hearings of 10 July and 20 October 1997 54.     During the hearing which was held on 10 July 1997 Şinasi Yalçın requested that the accused police officers be ordered to attend the hearings as he wished to question them. He further requested that the police officers be detained on remand as the trajectories of the bullets in the deceased's bodies clearly demonstrated that they had been executed. Another intervening party, Yüksel Erdoğan, requested the court to hold a new on-site inspection in order to determine whether the trajectories of the bullets matched the accused police officers' account of the events. Ş.K.'s lawyer requested that a new ballistic examination be conducted, claiming that Ş.K. had not opened fire. Finally, the Istanbul public prosecutor requested the first-instance court to hear the police officers who had drafted the report at 3.45 pm on 29 September 1994 as witnesses. One of the intervening parties' lawyers submitted the documents concerning other criminal proceedings brought against the accused police officers with the charge of homicide and the judgments of the European Court of Human Rights in cases which concerned actions of the accused police officers. The Istanbul Assize Court postponed the hearing in order to examine the parties' and the public prosecutor's requests. 55.     On 20 October 1997 the Istanbul Assize Court dismissed the requests by the intervening parties, accused police officers and the public prosecutor, holding that the evidence in the case-file was sufficient to allow it to establish the facts of the case. The court requested the parties and the public prosecutor to submit their observations on the merits of the case and, as a result, postponed the hearing. 8.     Hearing of 21 December 1998 and the Forensic Medicine Institute's report of 15 January 1999 56.     On 21 December 1998, upon the requests of the intervening parties and the public prosecutor, the Istanbul Assize Court decided to request the Forensic Medicine Institute to conduct an examination of all firearms, bullets and cartridges in order to resolve the contradictions between the previous ballistic reports and determine whether the bullet entries on the corpses could have been formed as a result of a shooting from downstairs to the second floor and whether the deceased were targeted by the defendants. The court further requested information concerning the range of the shootings. 57.     On 15 January 1999 experts from the Forensic Medicine Institute drew up three separate reports concerning the deceased. The relevant paragraphs, which are common to all three reports, read as follows: “...It is a medically recognised fact that the entry and exit holes in corpses cannot be indicative of the place and the level of the exact place where the shots were fired from since persons are mobile and can change place and position. Therefore, it cannot be medically determined whether the bullets were fired from the ground floor or the stairs or the second floor. Likewise, it cannot be determined whether the deceased were targeted by the accused. ...It has been unanimously concluded that all of the shots were fired at long range and that the exact range of the shootings cannot be determined.” 9.     Hearings between 24 March 1999 and 5 December 2001 and the Forensic Institute's report of 19 September 2001 58.     On different dates, the Istanbul Assize Court requested the Forensic Medicine Institute to conduct a new ballistic examination on all the firearms, bullets and cartridges in order to resolve the contradictions between its reports of 8 January and 28   August   1996 with a view to determining whether any bullets had been discharged from Ş.K.'s firearm. The first-instance court, however, had to postpone the hearings between 24   March 1999 and 27 March 2001 as the firearm of deceased police officer B.A. was not submitted for the ballistic examination. 59.     On 27 March 2001 the first-instance court sent the firearms, bullets and cartridges to the Forensic Medicine Institute. 60.     On 19 September 2001 experts from the Forensic Medicine Institute drafted a ballistic report. The conclusions of the experts read as follows: “As was determined in the report of 28 August 1996: 1- Three of the 7,65 mm calibre bullets were discharged from the Browning make firearm numbered 241716. Two of the 7,65 mm calibre bullets were discharged from the Unique firearm numbered 855392. 2- Out of the twenty 9 mm empty cartridges: a) Nine of them were discharged from the firearm numbered MP5-3793, eight of them were discharged from the Ceska firearm numbered T ‑ 1192 and three of them were discharged from the Browning firearm numbered 245 PV 30170. b) Furthermore, two 9 mm empty cartridges were not discharged from the firearms submitted. They were discharged from two different 9 mm calibre automatic or semi ‑ automatic firearms. 3- Out of the three 9 mm bullets: a) the one which was sent in an envelope marked “İbrahim Korkmaz” was discharged from the Ceska 9 mm calibre firearm numbered T-1192; b) one of the two bullets which were sent in an envelope marked ... “Fuat Erdoğan” was discharged from the Ceska 9 mm calibre firearm numbered T-1192 and the other was discharged from the Browning firearm numbered 245 PV 30170. 4- Three 9 mm calibre bullets may belong to the 9 mm empty cartridges sent. However, it cannot be determined with certainty whether they matched or not. ...” 10.     The Istanbul Assize Court's judgment of 7 February 2002 61.     On 7 February 2002 the Istanbul Assize Court rendered its judgment in the case and acquitted the accused police officers of the charges brought against them. The first-instance court noted that the deceased İsmet Erdoğan, Fuat Erdoğan and Elmas Yalçın had been members of the DHKP ‑ C, an illegal organisation, who had used forged identity cards on the day of the incident and that there had been detention orders and search warrants in their respect. It further noted that an armed clash had broken out between the deceased and the police officers and that five bullets had been discharged from the two firearms (numbered 241716 and 855392) found near the corpses after the incident. All three deceased had weapons that were used during the armed clash. In the light of the findings of the Forensic Medicine Institute's report of 19 September 2001, the assize court found it established that the accused police officers, including Ş.K., had used their firearms during the clash. In view of the conclusion of the Forensic Medicine Institute's report of 15 January 1999, the assize court further established that the police officers had fired shots at long range. It noted the experts' conclusion that the position of the police officers and the deceased could not be established. The court considered that it should be accepted that the police officers had approached the stairs leading up to the second floor and had fired in response to the shots coming from the deceased on the second floor. The court further noted that there was no evidence in the case file which proved that the police officers had killed the deceased although the latter had not resisted, or that the parts of their firearms had been changed. The Istanbul Assize Court further found it established, in the light of the witnesses' statements, that the accused police officers had given the necessary warnings and that, on being fired at, had retaliated by shooting back. The court concluded that the police officers had acted within the scope of their duties and in order to protect their own lives. It found that the accused had remained within the limits of legitimate self ‑ defence in accordance with Article 16 of Law no. 2559 on the duties and legal powers of police. 11.     The Court of Cassation's decision of 7 July 2003 62.     On 7 July 2003 the Court of Cassation upheld the judgment of the Istanbul Assize Court. It found it established that the accused police officers had remained within the limits of legitimate self-defence in accordance with Article 16 (a) and (g) of Law no. 2559. II.     RELEVANT INTERNATIONAL AND DOMESTIC LAW 63.     A description of the relevant domestic law at the material time and the international law can be found in Erdoğan and Others v. Turkey (no.   19807/92, §§ 51-58, 25 April 2006). THE LAW I.     AS REGARDS THE APPLICANTS RAMAZAN ERDOĞAN AND RAŞİDİYE ERDOĞAN 64.     The Court notes that the applicants' representatives did not submit a power of attorney signed by Ramazan and Raşidiye Erdoğan while introducing the application on 25 February 2000. On 16 May and 7   June   2005 the Registry requested the applicants' representatives to submit such an authorisation which was essential to establish the validity of the application insofar as brought by these two applicants. On 7 June 2005 and 29 September 2006 the applicants' representatives were also warned that Ramazan and Raşidiye Erdoğan's application might be struck out of the list. No response was received to the letters of 7 June 2005 and 29   September   2006 (see   paragraphs 5, 6 and 7 above). 65.     In these circumstances, taking into account the lack of diligence of the applicants' representatives and the absence of a serious indication that the applicants themselves wished to lodge or pursue the application, the Court concludes that it is no longer justified to continue the examination of the application brought on behalf of Ramazan Erdoğan and Raşidiye Erdoğan within the meaning of Article 37 § 1 (c) of the Convention. Furthermore, the Court finds no reasons of a general character, as defined in Article 37 § 1 in fine , which would require the examination of this part of the application by virtue of that Article. 66.     The Court therefore decides to strike the application, insofar as it has been brought on behalf of Ramazan Erdoğan and Raşidiye Erdoğan in respect of the killing of Fuat Erdoğan, out of its list of cases under Article   37 § 1 (a) of the Convention. II.     ALLEGED VIOLATIONS OF ARTICLES 2 AND 6 OF THE CONVENTION BY YÜKSEL ERDOĞAN, MELİHA ERDOĞAN, SİNAN ERDOĞAN, BAHAR SAĞLAM, ŞİNASİ YALÇIN, HÜSNÜ YALÇIN AND ALİ   YALÇIN 67.     The applicants complained, under Article 2 of the Convention, that the use of force employed by the security forces against İsmet Erdoğan and Elmas Yalçın was disproportionate and resulted in their unlawful killing. They further complained, under the same head, that the investigation and the subsequent criminal proceedings brought against the four police officers were fundamentally flawed and, as a result, were not capable of being effective, in violation of the procedural obligations under Article 2 of the Convention. They further complained, under Article 6 of the Convention, that the proceedings in question were not concluded within a reasonable time. 68.     The Court considers that these complaints should be examined from the standpoint of Article 2 of the Convention alone, which provides: “1.     Everyone's right to life shall be protected by law. No one shall be deprived of his life intentionally save in the execution of a sentence of a court following his conviction of a crime for which this penalty is provided by law. 2.     Deprivation of life shall not be regarded as inflicted in contravention of this Article when it results from the use of force which is no more than absolutely necessary: (a)     in defence of any person from unlawful violence; (b)     in order to effect a lawful arrest or to prevent the escape of a person lawfully detained; (c)     in action lawfully taken for the purpose of quelling a riot or insurrection.” A.     Admissibility 1.     Submissions of the parties 69.     The Government argued that Meliha Erdoğan, Sinan Erdoğan and Bahar Sağlam had failed to exhaust the domestic remedies available to them within the meaning of Article 35 § 1 of the Convention as they had not joined the proceedings against the accused police officers as civil parties. Alternatively, they alleged that the application was submitted out of time as the