Umay Aktaş Salman and Serkan Ocak report:
A local court has authorized police to conduct searches at any time of the bags, vehicles and private documents of students at Istanbul University, daily Radikal reported Tuesday.
The decision, requested by the university rector’s office, is valid from Dec. 1, 2010, to Nov. 20, 2011. Eren Can, a law student at the university, has applied to the court and objected to the decision.
“This decision is against privacy laws and the autonomy of universities,” Can said, adding that the ruling aims to intimidate students. “According to penal law, only a specific decision [to conduct searches] can be made, not a general one. But under this decision, police could make searches whenever they want. This is fascist.”
Lawyer Ümit Kocasakal, head of the Istanbul Bar Association, also criticized the broad scope of the ruling. “The decision is against the essence of searches,” he said. “The decision to [allow] searches is made in cases where it is hoped to find something. A search decision cannot be made for a nonspecific individual.”
Read more in the Hurriyet Daily News.