The European Court of Human Rights has condemned Turkey for failing to protect the privacy of a prominent Turkish actress who was secretly filmed kissing another celebrity at her home in footage shown on television.
Turkish film and soap opera actress Berrak Tüzünataç, 38, won the marathon case before the Strasbourg-based ECHR, which ruled that Turkey breached the European Convention on Human Rights by dismissing her complaints national legal systems.
The actress reacted to the news online saying that “justice somehow finds its place, even if it’s belated, this news has given me hope and renewed my hope . If we believe in something, we shouldn’t give up. I hope that encourages you too.”
In 2010, Tüzünataç filed a complaint in Turkey against the parent company of a Turkish television channel which had filmed her “kissing” another Turkish celebrity “on the terrace” of her home. She said she was filmed without her knowledge, in violation of her right to privacy, but the Istanbul Regional Court dismissed her complaint in 2013 on the grounds that she had been filmed from the street and that he did not there had been no intrusion into his home. His decision was later upheld by the Court of Cassation and the Constitutional Court of Turkey.
The ECHR designated the male actor involved as a prominent personality with the initials SG. Turkish media widely reported that it was Sahan Gokbakar, one of the country’s most famous screen faces and the star of hit comedy movies.
In its judgment, the ECHR specifies that despite their notoriety, “a person’s love life is in principle of a strictly private nature” while the video in question “seems to have had the sole purpose of satisfying the curiosity of a certain public. “. He said that because the reporting failed to meet “responsible journalism standards”, Turkish domestic courts “should have been more rigorous in weighing the different interests at stake”.
She found that Turkey had violated Article 8 of the European Convention on Human Rights which enshrines respect for a person’s private life.