301 CONCERNS RESURFACE IN DINK TRIAL
TREND Information, Azerbaijan
Oct 2 2007
( Todayszaman ) The Istanbul 14th Criminal Court on Monday resumed the
trial of suspects in the killing of Turkish Armenian journalist Hrant
Dink in a case that brought up discussions on the Turkish Penal Code’s
(TCK) Article 301, under which Dink was convicted and which is also
seen as a test of the judiciary in investigating possible negligence
by authorities.
Demonstrators at his funeral in January carried banners reading
"301 is the murderer," after Dink was shot dead in broad daylight in
front of his newspaper Agos ‘ office. " Hrant Dink’s death is linked
to 301," said Claudia Roth, a leader of the German opposition Greens,
who is in Istanbul to attend the hearing. "It was 301 that killed him,
and that’s why I am here."
European Commissioner for Enlargement Olli Rehn also made a statement
on Monday emphasizing the EU’s sensitivity about changing 301. He
said the European Union has been waiting for a change since 2004 and
called on the government to either abolish the article or review it
as necessary without further delay.
Article 301, which criminalizes "insulting Turkishness ," is seen
as a serious obstacle to freedom of speech in Turkey by Turkish
intellectuals and the European Union. In addition to Dink, Nobel
Prize winner Orhan Pamuk and novelist Elif Safak stood trial under
Article 301; however, the government has still not made any visible
moves to amend it.
But that situation might be changing, sources close to the government
indicate, claiming that the Justice and Development Party (AK Party)
is considering changes to the infamous article. The AK Party has
reportedly sought alternative texts for the article from two prominent
jurists, Former dead of the Supreme Court of Appeals Sami Selcuk and
Professor Izzet Ozgenc , one of the architects of the TCK.
The government is now expected to replace Article 301 by one of two
alternative texts, or combine the two, which are very similar, in a
new paragraph.
One of the points common to Article 301 in the alternative paragraphs
proposed by Selcuk and Ozgenc is replacing the concept of " Turkishness
" with the word "Turkish nation," and replacing the word "Republic,"
with the expression "the State of the Turkish Republic."
Both jurists believe that prosecutors should require special
permission from a higher authority to start a probe under 301, but the
authorities they point to differ significantly. While Selcuk believes
this authority should lie with the president as the head of state,
Professor Ozgenc defends that it should lie with the minister of
justice, as it previously used to. In January of last year, the
government requested all civil society organizations to agree on
an alternative paragraph to modify the article, but civil groups
failed to reach consensus on a single text. Most experts propose one
of two possible methods to alleviate the problems caused by 301. A
number of legal experts and a significant number of civil society
organizations would like to see the article abolished entirely. The
European Union is also of that opinion. A second opinion is to amend
the article instead of removing it from the penal code, which is what
the government is likely to opt for.