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EUROPEAN COURT OF HUMAN RIGHTS     270   11.4.2000   Press release issued by the Registrar   CHAMBER JUDGMENTS   The European Court of Human Rights has today notified in writing the following five chamber judgments concerning Italy and Turkey.   Section 2   1)  Sevtap Veznedaroğlu v. Turkey (Application number 32357/96)    Violation Article 3   Sevtap Veznedaroğlu, a Turkish national, was born in 1966 and lives in Istanbul. She was taken into custody on 4 July 1994, where she alleges she was brutally tortured during interrogation and forced to sign a statement admitting to connections with the Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK). She was medically examined on 13 July 1994 and two violet-coloured bruises were found on her left upper arm and right tibia. These bruises were confirmed by a further medical examination carried out on 15 July 1994. On the same day she appeared first before the public prosecutor and subsequently before a substitute judge. She was charged with membership of the PKK, but was eventually acquitted for lack of evidence.   She complained that she had been tortured in police custody, in violation of Article 3 (prohibition of torture) of the European Convention on Human Rights.   The Court found it impossible to establish on the basis of the evidence submitted by the applicant whether or not her injuries were caused by the police or whether she had been tortured to the extent claimed. However, it noted that the difficulty in establishing whether there was any substance to her allegations was caused by the authorities’ failure to investigate her complaints. The Court observed that the applicant had stated to the public prosecutor and the substitute judge that she had been tortured and that the public prosecutor had in his file the medical reports indicating fresh bruising to her arm and leg. However, no steps were taken to obtain further details from her or to question the police officers who had interrogated her in custody.   The Court held unanimously that there had been a violation of Article 3, given the authorities’ failure to investigate Ms Veznedaroğlu’s torture allegations, and awarded her 2,000 US Dollars for non-pecuniary damage and 1,000 USD for legal costs and expenses. The judgment exists only in English.   Section 1   2) Sanna v. Italy (Application No. 38135/97) Violation Article 6 § 1   Franco Sanna, an Italian national, complained about civil proceedings to which he was a party, which lasted more than six years and one month and are still pending. The European Court of Human Rights held unanimously that there had been a violation of Article 6 § 1 (right to a fair trial within a reasonable time) of the Convention and awarded the applicant 12,000,000 Italian lira (ITL) for non-pecuniary damage and ITL 4,000,000 for costs and expenses. (Judgment in French).   3) Coscia v. Italy (No. 35616/97) Violation Article 6 § 1   Luciano Coscia, an Italian national, complained about civil proceedings to which he was a party, which lasted more than nine years and eight months. The Court held unanimously that there had been a violation of Article 6 § 1 and awarded the applicant ITL 12,000,000 for non-pecuniary damage and ITL 1,000,000 for costs and expenses. (Judgment in French).   4) Sergi v. Italy (No. 37118/97) Friendly settlement   Biagio Sergi, an Italian national, complained about criminal proceedings to which he was a party, which lasted about six years and eleven months. The case has been struck out following a friendly settlement in which Mr Sergi is to be paid ITL 18,000,000 for damage and ITL 5,000,000 for costs and expenses. (Judgment in French).   5) Piccinini v. Italy (No. 28936/95) Friendly settlement   Claudio Piccinini, an Italian national, complained about civil proceedings to which he was a party, which lasted nearly fifteen years. The case has been struck out following a friendly settlement in which Mr Piccinini is to be paid ITL 10,000,000 for any non-pecuniary damage and ITL 1,000,000 for costs and expenses. (Judgment in French).   ***   The Court’s judgments are accessible on its Internet site (http://www.echr.coe.int).   Registry of the European Court of Human Rights F - 67075 Strasbourg Cedex Contacts: Roderick Liddell (telephone: (0)3 88 41 24 92) Or:   Emma Hellyer (telephone: (0)3 90 21 42 15) Fax:    (0)3 88 41 27 91   The European Court of Human Rights was set up in 1959 in Strasbourg to deal with alleged violations of the 1950 European Convention on Human Rights.  On 1 November 1998 a full-time Court was established, replacing the original two-tier system of a part-time Commission and Court.