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SOME OF THE 301 TRIALS JUSTIFIED: MINISTER
Hurriyet
Nov 18 2008
Turkey
ANKARA - Compulsory Justice Ministry approval for Article 301
investigations to proceed is a positive step that allows most
investigations never to see the light of day, says Justice Minister
Mehmet Ali Å~^ahin, but notes that his ministry's consent for charges
against a writer, Temel Demirer, are right because Demirer called
the country a killer
Justice Minister Mehmet Ali Å~^ahin defended his decision to consent
to prosecution of author Temel Demirer under the Turkish Penal Code's
controversial Article 301, which criminalizes insulting "'Turkishness,'
the government and state institutions."
"Demirer claimed Turkey is a killer country. It killed Armenians
and now will kill Kurds. I won't let anyone call my country killer,"
Å~^ahin said in an interview with the daily Sabah.
Article 301 has been a major point of criticism from the EU, which
Turkey wants to join. The article allows the prosecution of individuals
who are perceived to have insulted Turkishness, state institutions
and the top state officials and is seen by activists and EU officials
as a major impediment to freedom of speech.
Turkey's Nobel Laureate Orhan Pamuk was among those prosecuted by
the article. The court stopped the trial after the Justice Ministry
failed to give consent.
Journalist Hrant Dink was prosecuted and found guilty in another 301
case, receiving a suspended sentence. Dink was later murdered by a
teenage nationalist who told the police he had shot the journalist
for insulting the country.
Justice Ministry approval needed for trial Turkey faced a barrage of
criticism due to the trials, with the government eventually changing
the penal code to allow 301 investigations to proceed only with
approval from the Justice Ministry. The authority to commence trials
concerning Article 301-related cases was given to the Justice Ministry
under an amendment made to the Turkish Penal Code in April 2008.
Some 381 Article 301-related cases have reached the ministry within
the last six months. The ministry examined 263 of them and didn't
require a court investigation for 216 of them. The ministry approved
only 47 cases for court hearings, according to Å~^ahin.
Demirer was among those whom Å~^ahin gave consent for the
prosecution. Demirer was charged with insulting the Turkish nation
under Article 301 for his words right after the Armenian-Turkish
journalist Hrant Dink was killed in January 2007. He participated
in the protests in Ankara after Dink's assassination and said the
government failed to prevent Dink from being killed.
"There is genocide in our history and its name is the Armenian
genocide. Hrant showed this fact with his own life. I commit a crime
and invite all to do the same. Those who don't commit crime against
this killer government will share the guilt of Dink's killers. We
should commit a crime in order to prevent what happened to those
Armenians in the past not to happen to Kurds today," he said.
The court requested a jail sentence of five years for Demirer.
Å~^ahin said what Demirer said went unnoticed but when the ministry
gave permit for the prosecution everybody felt sorry for him.
"This is not a freedom of expression. It exactly falls a crime of
insulting Turkish nation under the Article 301 of the Turkish Penal
Code," he said. Å~^ahin also said if the ministry permit wasn't
required in line with the new amendment, the 381 cases concerning
the article would be on trial. He said those who defended the old
version of Article 301 shouldn't ignore this fact.
--Boundary_(ID_lF79FnN2SeT/HHikqvU6TQ)--
Hurriyet
Nov 18 2008
Turkey
ANKARA - Compulsory Justice Ministry approval for Article 301
investigations to proceed is a positive step that allows most
investigations never to see the light of day, says Justice Minister
Mehmet Ali Å~^ahin, but notes that his ministry's consent for charges
against a writer, Temel Demirer, are right because Demirer called
the country a killer
Justice Minister Mehmet Ali Å~^ahin defended his decision to consent
to prosecution of author Temel Demirer under the Turkish Penal Code's
controversial Article 301, which criminalizes insulting "'Turkishness,'
the government and state institutions."
"Demirer claimed Turkey is a killer country. It killed Armenians
and now will kill Kurds. I won't let anyone call my country killer,"
Å~^ahin said in an interview with the daily Sabah.
Article 301 has been a major point of criticism from the EU, which
Turkey wants to join. The article allows the prosecution of individuals
who are perceived to have insulted Turkishness, state institutions
and the top state officials and is seen by activists and EU officials
as a major impediment to freedom of speech.
Turkey's Nobel Laureate Orhan Pamuk was among those prosecuted by
the article. The court stopped the trial after the Justice Ministry
failed to give consent.
Journalist Hrant Dink was prosecuted and found guilty in another 301
case, receiving a suspended sentence. Dink was later murdered by a
teenage nationalist who told the police he had shot the journalist
for insulting the country.
Justice Ministry approval needed for trial Turkey faced a barrage of
criticism due to the trials, with the government eventually changing
the penal code to allow 301 investigations to proceed only with
approval from the Justice Ministry. The authority to commence trials
concerning Article 301-related cases was given to the Justice Ministry
under an amendment made to the Turkish Penal Code in April 2008.
Some 381 Article 301-related cases have reached the ministry within
the last six months. The ministry examined 263 of them and didn't
require a court investigation for 216 of them. The ministry approved
only 47 cases for court hearings, according to Å~^ahin.
Demirer was among those whom Å~^ahin gave consent for the
prosecution. Demirer was charged with insulting the Turkish nation
under Article 301 for his words right after the Armenian-Turkish
journalist Hrant Dink was killed in January 2007. He participated
in the protests in Ankara after Dink's assassination and said the
government failed to prevent Dink from being killed.
"There is genocide in our history and its name is the Armenian
genocide. Hrant showed this fact with his own life. I commit a crime
and invite all to do the same. Those who don't commit crime against
this killer government will share the guilt of Dink's killers. We
should commit a crime in order to prevent what happened to those
Armenians in the past not to happen to Kurds today," he said.
The court requested a jail sentence of five years for Demirer.
Å~^ahin said what Demirer said went unnoticed but when the ministry
gave permit for the prosecution everybody felt sorry for him.
"This is not a freedom of expression. It exactly falls a crime of
insulting Turkish nation under the Article 301 of the Turkish Penal
Code," he said. Å~^ahin also said if the ministry permit wasn't
required in line with the new amendment, the 381 cases concerning
the article would be on trial. He said those who defended the old
version of Article 301 shouldn't ignore this fact.
--Boundary_(ID_lF79FnN2SeT/HHikqvU6TQ)--