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"AFTER VICTORY FOR FREE SPEECH IN FRANCE, TURKEY'S TURN NEXT?"
BIAnet.org
March 2 2012
Turkey
Reporters Without Borders appreciated the French Constitutional Court's
decision against the law proposal related the denial of genocide. The
international organization now urged Turkish authorities to fulfil
their responsibilities regarding free speech.
Paris - BİA News Center02 March 2012, Friday Reporters Without
Borders hails yesterday's ruling by the Constitutional Council that a
proposed law punishing the "denial of legally recognized genocides"
is unconstitutional. It had been on the verge of being signed into
law by President Sarkozy.
"We are pleased that freedom of expression has not been sacrificed
to a cause, no matter how just the cause may be," Reporters Without
Borders said. "The dangerous breach opened by this law has been closed
for the time being but it has already damaged the credibility of the
democratic values defended by France and those who defend human rights
and the Armenian cause in Turkey.
"We urge France's politicians to renounce any intention of drafting
an amended version of this law. Any thought of using legislation to
establish an official history of past events should be ruled out for
good after this precedent.
"The Turkish authorities must now face their responsibilities. In the
name of free speech, they have for weeks been condemning the French
parliament's meddling in history. Now they must prove that their
comments were not just tailored to the circumstances by allowing
Turkish citizens to mention the Armenian genocide without fear of
being prosecuted.
"Consistency requires that, at the very least, they immediately
decriminalize two offences, insulting the Turkish nation (article
301 of the criminal code) and insulting the memory of Mustafa Kemal
Ataturk (Law 5816 of 25 July1951).
"This decision does not exempt Turkey from finally confronting its
own history; quite the contrary. Now that Ankara no longer has the
excuse of 'foreign meddling,' it must remove the straightjacket of
official history from the Turkish republic, open a debate about the
fate of Turkey's minorities and end the growing criminalization of
journalistic activities."
Reporters Without Borders had written to France's parliamentarians on
25 January urging them to ask the Constitutional Council to determine
whether the proposed law was constitutional (see below). Inciting
"discrimination, hatred or violence" continues to be punishable in
France under article 24 of its 1881 press law.
Source: RSF (Reporters Sans Frontiers - Reporters Without Borders)
BIAnet.org
March 2 2012
Turkey
Reporters Without Borders appreciated the French Constitutional Court's
decision against the law proposal related the denial of genocide. The
international organization now urged Turkish authorities to fulfil
their responsibilities regarding free speech.
Paris - BİA News Center02 March 2012, Friday Reporters Without
Borders hails yesterday's ruling by the Constitutional Council that a
proposed law punishing the "denial of legally recognized genocides"
is unconstitutional. It had been on the verge of being signed into
law by President Sarkozy.
"We are pleased that freedom of expression has not been sacrificed
to a cause, no matter how just the cause may be," Reporters Without
Borders said. "The dangerous breach opened by this law has been closed
for the time being but it has already damaged the credibility of the
democratic values defended by France and those who defend human rights
and the Armenian cause in Turkey.
"We urge France's politicians to renounce any intention of drafting
an amended version of this law. Any thought of using legislation to
establish an official history of past events should be ruled out for
good after this precedent.
"The Turkish authorities must now face their responsibilities. In the
name of free speech, they have for weeks been condemning the French
parliament's meddling in history. Now they must prove that their
comments were not just tailored to the circumstances by allowing
Turkish citizens to mention the Armenian genocide without fear of
being prosecuted.
"Consistency requires that, at the very least, they immediately
decriminalize two offences, insulting the Turkish nation (article
301 of the criminal code) and insulting the memory of Mustafa Kemal
Ataturk (Law 5816 of 25 July1951).
"This decision does not exempt Turkey from finally confronting its
own history; quite the contrary. Now that Ankara no longer has the
excuse of 'foreign meddling,' it must remove the straightjacket of
official history from the Turkish republic, open a debate about the
fate of Turkey's minorities and end the growing criminalization of
journalistic activities."
Reporters Without Borders had written to France's parliamentarians on
25 January urging them to ask the Constitutional Council to determine
whether the proposed law was constitutional (see below). Inciting
"discrimination, hatred or violence" continues to be punishable in
France under article 24 of its 1881 press law.
Source: RSF (Reporters Sans Frontiers - Reporters Without Borders)