WRITER TO FACE PROSECUTION UNDER 301
Today’s Zaman
Sept 10 2008
Turkey
Justice Minister Mehmet Ali Å~^ahin has allowed the prosecution of
a writer under Article 301 of the Turkish Penal Code (TCK) for his
remarks at a press conference following the murder of Turkish-Armenian
journalist Hrant Dink.
Writer Temel Demirer was already facing charges over insulting
Turkishness under Article 301 and with Å~^ahin’s decision, the case
is set to continue.
The EU criticized Turkey for not amending Article 301, under which
a number of intellectuals and activists, including Turkey’s Nobel
Prize-winning novelist Orhan Pamuk, have landed in court for "insulting
Turkishness." In an annual progress report released in early November
of last year, the European Commission proposed not opening accession
talks on one of the 35 negotiating chapters until Turkey amends or
repeals Article 301.
An amendment made to Article 301, which previously criminalized
"insulting Turkishness" and has long been seen as an obstacle to
freedom of speech in Turkey, made it obligatory for prosecutors to
secure approval from the Justice Ministry before launching cases on
301-related charges. It was hoped that the amendment, adopted in May
of this year, would make legal prosecution of writers and intellectuals
more difficult.
Following the amendment to the article, the court halted the legal
process on Demirer’s case.
Demirer is facing a jail sentence from one year and six months to
five years under the amended Article 301.
The unamended version of the article was also seen by some circles as
being responsible for the death of Turkish-Armenian journalist Hrant
Dink, who was shot dead outside his office in Ä°stanbul in January
2007 by an ultra-nationalist teenager. Dink became a target after
301-related charges were brought against him by ultra-nationalist
lawyer Kemal Kerincsiz, his friends, lawyers and other intellectuals
argued. An investigation into the Ergenekon crime network has created
the suspicion that Dink’s murder was planned by groups and individuals
with links to the state.
–Boundary_(ID_dovymnO/4efIfwbhZ8wNuw)–