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TURKEY: DROP INVESTIGATION ON COLUMNISTS FOR RELIGIOUS DEFAMATION
Premium Official News
January 20, 2015 Tuesday
Toronto
International Freedom of Expression Exchange has issued the following
news release:
PEN International is deeply concerned by the news that two columnists
from the daily Cumhuriyet are under investigation for 'religious
defamation' for featuring the first, post-shooting cover of French
satirical magazine Charlie Hebdo, which depicts the Prophet Muhammad,
in their respective columns. Hikmet Cetinkaya and Ceyda Karan, who have
received many threats on social media in recent days, could face up
to a year in prison if convicted. Access to web pages featuring the
Charlie Hebdo cover has been banned from within Turkey following a
court order from the Diyarbakýr Magistrates' Court on 14 January 2015.
PEN calls on the Turkish authorities to drop the investigation
into Cetinkaya and Karan, to ensure their protection from attack
and to lift bans on any URLs of web pages featuring the cover which
are not in accordance with the law and also are both necessary for
demonstrable reasons of public order or other legitimate reasons and
proportionate to the perceived risk.
TAKE ACTION: Share on Facebook, Twitter and other social media
Please send appeals:
Calling for the investigation and any charges that journalists or
news outlets may face for publishing the cover of Charlie Hebdo to be
immediately and unconditionally dropped;Demanding that journalists or
news outlets that have published the Charlie Hebdo cover are afforded
protection by Turkish security forces; Calling for bans on access to
web pages featuring the Charlie Hebdo cover to be lifted unless they
are both necessary and proportionate according to international law
and are imposed in accordance with Turkish legislation; Calling on
Turkey to fulfil its international obligations to respect the right
to freedom of expression under the European Convention on Human Rights
and the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights to which
it is a state party.
Please send appeals reiterating PEN's calls (listed above) to:
Prime Minister Ahmet Davutoðlu Baþbakanlýk Halkla Ýliþkiler Daire
Baþkanlýðý Merkez Bina B. Blok 06640, Kýzýlay Ankara, Turkey Fax:
+90 312 422 2667 Email: [email protected] Twitter:
@Ahmet_Davutoglu
Minister of Justice Bekir Bozdað Milli Mudafaa Caddesi No: 22
Bakanlýklar 06659, Kýzýlay Ankara, Turkey Fax: +90 312 419 33 70
Email: [email protected]; [email protected] Twitter:
@bybekirbozdag
And copy to the Embassy of Turkey in your country. You can find
embassy addresses here
***Please send appeals immediately. Check with PEN International if
sending appeals after 19 February 2015. ***
Please inform us of any action you take, and of any responses you
receive.
Background
A criminal investigation was launched against columnists Hikmet
Cetinkaya, Ceyda Karan and Turkish newspaper Cumhuriyet under Article
216 of the Turkish Penal Code on 15 January 2015, a day after the
publication of the front cover of Charlie Hebdo in the newspaper. The
news that an investigation had been launched against Cetinkaya
and Karan came amid heightened tensions in Turkey surrounding the
Charlie Hebdo cover. Violent clashes have been reported in front of
the offices of Cumhuriyet, which is being guarded by armed police,
and Yeni Akit, an Islamist newspaper that published a caricature of the
secularist founder of the republic of Turkey, Ataturk, in response to
Cumhuriyet's show of solidarity with Charlie Hebdo. Turkish satirical
magazines Penguen and Leman have also reportedly been subjected to
threats on social media since the Charlie Hebdo shooting.
Turkish news outlets T24, BirGun, Sozcu and Yurt could face similar
religious defamation charges, having also published the Charlie
Hebdo cover.
Turkish Prime Minister Ahmet Davutoðlu, who joined a march in
Paris with other world leaders in solidarity with Charlie Hebdo,
has criticised Cumhuriyet for publishing the cover:
"Freedom of press does not cover insulting the prophet," Davutoðlu said
on 15 January 2015, "People who may tolerate insulting an individual
will clearly not respond in the same way when it is against the
prophet. Since Turkey has such a sensitivity, publishing a cartoon
that aims to insult the prophet is a clear act of incitement."
Speaking on 16 January 2015, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoðan
made the following comments on Charlie Hebdo and Cumhuriyet:
"Our religion does not permit terrorism; there is no place for
terrorism within it. And no-one has the right to get up and hold
Muslims to account for acts of terror committed in abuse of our
religion. A magazine that has gained notoriety with its provocative
publications; a magazine that the Pope also condemns, is familiar
with their provocative practices. Whether it is about Muslims or
Christians; this cannot be called freedom. Violating the limits of
another's freedoms means unleashing terror there. There is a limit
to freedom of thought: as far as my freedoms..."
"Certain publications from our country are insulting our prophet
by taking extracts from them. What country are you in? 99% of this
country is Muslim. Not only Muslims, you cannot insult what anyone
considers sacred in this way. And they say security forces came and
conducted searches. Citizens came and engaged in sedition. As long as
you do things like this, you invite sedition. You open the door to
this. Unfortunately, steps that are taken, like these, are aimed at
disrupting the nation's unity and togetherness. When the sensitivities
of Muslims on the subject of their prophet are so clearly in the open,
persistently going after them is absolutely unrelated to freedom
of thought."
Religious defamation cases have become increasingly common in
Turkey over the last few years, overtaking Article 301 (insulting
the Turkish people or state) as a charge brought against writers and
others exercising their right to peaceful freedom of expression. High
profile religious defamation cases in recent years have included
concert pianist, composer and PEN International main case Fazýl Say,
Turkish-Armenian writer and intellectual Sevan Niþanyan and left-wing
daily BirGun.
Premium Official News
January 20, 2015 Tuesday
Toronto
International Freedom of Expression Exchange has issued the following
news release:
PEN International is deeply concerned by the news that two columnists
from the daily Cumhuriyet are under investigation for 'religious
defamation' for featuring the first, post-shooting cover of French
satirical magazine Charlie Hebdo, which depicts the Prophet Muhammad,
in their respective columns. Hikmet Cetinkaya and Ceyda Karan, who have
received many threats on social media in recent days, could face up
to a year in prison if convicted. Access to web pages featuring the
Charlie Hebdo cover has been banned from within Turkey following a
court order from the Diyarbakýr Magistrates' Court on 14 January 2015.
PEN calls on the Turkish authorities to drop the investigation
into Cetinkaya and Karan, to ensure their protection from attack
and to lift bans on any URLs of web pages featuring the cover which
are not in accordance with the law and also are both necessary for
demonstrable reasons of public order or other legitimate reasons and
proportionate to the perceived risk.
TAKE ACTION: Share on Facebook, Twitter and other social media
Please send appeals:
Calling for the investigation and any charges that journalists or
news outlets may face for publishing the cover of Charlie Hebdo to be
immediately and unconditionally dropped;Demanding that journalists or
news outlets that have published the Charlie Hebdo cover are afforded
protection by Turkish security forces; Calling for bans on access to
web pages featuring the Charlie Hebdo cover to be lifted unless they
are both necessary and proportionate according to international law
and are imposed in accordance with Turkish legislation; Calling on
Turkey to fulfil its international obligations to respect the right
to freedom of expression under the European Convention on Human Rights
and the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights to which
it is a state party.
Please send appeals reiterating PEN's calls (listed above) to:
Prime Minister Ahmet Davutoðlu Baþbakanlýk Halkla Ýliþkiler Daire
Baþkanlýðý Merkez Bina B. Blok 06640, Kýzýlay Ankara, Turkey Fax:
+90 312 422 2667 Email: [email protected] Twitter:
@Ahmet_Davutoglu
Minister of Justice Bekir Bozdað Milli Mudafaa Caddesi No: 22
Bakanlýklar 06659, Kýzýlay Ankara, Turkey Fax: +90 312 419 33 70
Email: [email protected]; [email protected] Twitter:
@bybekirbozdag
And copy to the Embassy of Turkey in your country. You can find
embassy addresses here
***Please send appeals immediately. Check with PEN International if
sending appeals after 19 February 2015. ***
Please inform us of any action you take, and of any responses you
receive.
Background
A criminal investigation was launched against columnists Hikmet
Cetinkaya, Ceyda Karan and Turkish newspaper Cumhuriyet under Article
216 of the Turkish Penal Code on 15 January 2015, a day after the
publication of the front cover of Charlie Hebdo in the newspaper. The
news that an investigation had been launched against Cetinkaya
and Karan came amid heightened tensions in Turkey surrounding the
Charlie Hebdo cover. Violent clashes have been reported in front of
the offices of Cumhuriyet, which is being guarded by armed police,
and Yeni Akit, an Islamist newspaper that published a caricature of the
secularist founder of the republic of Turkey, Ataturk, in response to
Cumhuriyet's show of solidarity with Charlie Hebdo. Turkish satirical
magazines Penguen and Leman have also reportedly been subjected to
threats on social media since the Charlie Hebdo shooting.
Turkish news outlets T24, BirGun, Sozcu and Yurt could face similar
religious defamation charges, having also published the Charlie
Hebdo cover.
Turkish Prime Minister Ahmet Davutoðlu, who joined a march in
Paris with other world leaders in solidarity with Charlie Hebdo,
has criticised Cumhuriyet for publishing the cover:
"Freedom of press does not cover insulting the prophet," Davutoðlu said
on 15 January 2015, "People who may tolerate insulting an individual
will clearly not respond in the same way when it is against the
prophet. Since Turkey has such a sensitivity, publishing a cartoon
that aims to insult the prophet is a clear act of incitement."
Speaking on 16 January 2015, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoðan
made the following comments on Charlie Hebdo and Cumhuriyet:
"Our religion does not permit terrorism; there is no place for
terrorism within it. And no-one has the right to get up and hold
Muslims to account for acts of terror committed in abuse of our
religion. A magazine that has gained notoriety with its provocative
publications; a magazine that the Pope also condemns, is familiar
with their provocative practices. Whether it is about Muslims or
Christians; this cannot be called freedom. Violating the limits of
another's freedoms means unleashing terror there. There is a limit
to freedom of thought: as far as my freedoms..."
"Certain publications from our country are insulting our prophet
by taking extracts from them. What country are you in? 99% of this
country is Muslim. Not only Muslims, you cannot insult what anyone
considers sacred in this way. And they say security forces came and
conducted searches. Citizens came and engaged in sedition. As long as
you do things like this, you invite sedition. You open the door to
this. Unfortunately, steps that are taken, like these, are aimed at
disrupting the nation's unity and togetherness. When the sensitivities
of Muslims on the subject of their prophet are so clearly in the open,
persistently going after them is absolutely unrelated to freedom
of thought."
Religious defamation cases have become increasingly common in
Turkey over the last few years, overtaking Article 301 (insulting
the Turkish people or state) as a charge brought against writers and
others exercising their right to peaceful freedom of expression. High
profile religious defamation cases in recent years have included
concert pianist, composer and PEN International main case Fazýl Say,
Turkish-Armenian writer and intellectual Sevan Niþanyan and left-wing
daily BirGun.