The European Court of Human Rights has ordered Turkey to pay a citizen 8,500 Euros for violating his freedom of expression when a Turkish court decided to block access to Google Sites, according to yesterday’s edition of  Bianet News.

The ECHR held that Turkey was to pay the applicant Ahmet Yıldırım 7,500 Euros in respect of non-pecuniary damage and EUR 1,000 Euros for costs and expenses.

In June 2009, the Denizli Criminal Court of First Instance ordered the blocking of an Internet site whose owner had been accused of insulting the memory of Atatürk. The order was issued as a preventive measure in the context of criminal proceedings against the site’s owner.

The blocking order was submitted for execution to the Telecommunications Directorate which stated later on that this was the only technical means of blocking the offending site, as its owner lived abroad.

Mr. Yıldırım has complained that since then he’s been unable to access his own site on which he published "his academic work and his opinions on various matters".