Partly dissenting opinion of Judge Palm in the case of Sürek v. Turkey (No. 1), No. 26682/95, ECtHR (Grand Chamber), 8 July 1999

Violation of Article 10 ECHR. Incitement to violence.

Art. 10 ECHR

In examining whether the writings published by the applicant instigated the use of violence, the Court attached too much weight to the vehemence of the language used. However, in a democracy even “fighting” words or offensive speech may be protected by the Convention. In this perspective, importance should have been given to the different elements of the contextual setting in which the words were uttered and their likely impact. Taking this approach, it seems that there was no real risk of incitement to hatred or violence in the present case and that the applicant was convicted by the domestic authorities mainly because of the political message of the letters published.