Kurdish Info, Germany
March 2 2005

International Observers to Attend FOE Cases

BianetISTANBUL / 2 March 2005 / by IPA/International PEN
2 March trials of Fikret Baskaya and Ragip Zarakolu symbolise the
continuation of freedom of expression problems in Turkey.
International PEN, and the IPA, as well as other international NGOs,
among them Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch, are in
Turkey to attend as observers the trial hearings against writer
Fikret Baskaya and publisher Ragip Zarakolu, set for 2 March 2005.

Fikret Baskaya will be tried in Ankara on charges of ‘insult to the
State, State institutions, and the military’ under Article 159 of the
current Penal Code. He could face a three-year jail sentence. The
charges stem from articles published in the early nineties (since
republished as a book entitled: “Articles against the Current”) in
which he was critical of the Turkish authorities.
Ragip Zarakolu, co-founder and owner of Belge Publishing, is charged
in Istanbul with ‘incitement to racial hatred’ under Article 312 of
the current Penal Code, charges occasioned by his writing of an
article critical of Turkey’s foreign policy on Kurdish issues. The
charges carry a two-year jail sentence. An additional case was
initiated against him in December 2004 for the publication of George
Jerjian’s Book entitled: “The truth will set us free/Armenians and
Turks reconciled” for insulting the State and the memory of the
founder of the Republic, Atatürk. The first hearing in this case is
due to take place in Istanbul on 16 March 2005. An investigation was
also opened for his publication of Zulkuf Kisanak’s “Lost Villages”.
Lars Grahn, Chairman of the IPA Freedom to Publish Committee,
declares: “Both Fikret Baskaya and Ragip Zarakolu have been subjected
to a series of long, time-consuming and expensive court hearings.
Whatever the outcome of these trials, this is in itself a form of
harassment and punishment for daring to produce works which touch on
sensitive issues”.
There are currently an estimated 60 writers, publishers and
journalists under judicial process in Turkey for practicing their
right to freedom of expression. In this regard, the 2 March trial
hearings of Fikret Baskaya and Ragip Zarakolu are just two out of
many. Eugene Schoulgin, Member of the Board of International PEN
says: “To us, they symbolise the continuation of freedom of
expression problems in Turkey”.