Entries by admin

Hazem El Masri Case Shows Australia Has a Problem with Innocent Until Proven Guilty

The principle of treating someone as innocent until they are proven guilty no longer exists. Australia has a problem with the presumption of innocence. It is being displaced by a rush to judgment. The reasons for this are understandable, but problematic. People want to believe that the perpetrator of a violent act has been found […]

Spain Guilty of Violating Presumption of Innocence

The European Court of Human Rights has released its sentence in the case Vlieeland Boddy and Marcelo Lanni vs. Spain, ruling that the Spanish state infringed upon the presumption of innocence of two people who were denied compensation for the time they were held in pre-trial detention, despite having been absolved (in the case of […]

Armenian President Blamed for Violating Presumption of Innocence

The Armenian President Serzh Sargsyan has broken the principle of presumption of innocence by accusing Shant Arutyunyan, the leader of “Tsegakron” Party, of committing a crime, said the protesters who held their action in Yerevan. On September 24, during his working visit to the United States, while lecturing at the Columbia University, Serzh Sargsyan said […]

Presumption of Innocence Not Violated in Media Case, Rules ECHR

Employees of a Turkish TV channel broadcasting in Germany, of which Mr. Z. Karaman is a director, started two charity organizations and solicited donations on-air. In 2006 German prosecutors began an investigation for fraudulent use of said donations. After the on-air solicitation took place, German prosecutors charged Mr. Karaman and several employees with fraud and […]

Presumed Innocent, but Caged in Court

Under the Russian Constitution, Pavel V. Dmitrichenko, the star dancer charged with arranging an acid attack on the Bolshoi Ballet’s artistic director, is innocent until proven guilty. But in court, Mr. Dmitrichenko sits in a locked iron cage, guarded by security officers and, at times, a nasty-looking dog. A similar scene played out this month […]

The ECHR rules a breach of the right of innocence in the case Ürfi Çetinkaya v. Turkey

The applicant, Ürfi Çetinkaya, is a Turkish national who was born in 1949 and lives in Kocaeli (Turkey). In March 2003 Mr Çetinkaya was accused by an informer of having spearheaded an international heroin-trafficking network since his release from custody on medical grounds. Accordingly, the Istanbul public prosecutor’s office decided to open a judicial investigation […]