Agence France Presse
March 16 2005
Alarmed over freedoms, Turkish media seek suspension of new penal
codeDocument Actions 16/03/2005
The Turkish media have launched a campaign to halt a much-hailed,
EU-backed penal code just days before it comes into effect, saying it
contains severe restrictions on freedom of the press.
The new penal code may result in “many arbitrary prosecutions… and
pack prisons with journalists,” press groups said Wednesday in a
letter to Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan.
The campaign to suspend and amend the law, which took the government
by surprise, came only two weeks before it comes into force on April
1 and almost half a year after it was adopted by parliament in
September amid much fanfare and praise from the European Union.
The reform was one of the most notable measures Brussels sought from
Ankara in the run-up to a landmark decision in December to give
Turkey the green light for accession talks.
“The big media groups were under the spell of the EU campaign. They
either failed to see or did not want to see the dangers of the law,”
said Oral Calislar, a member of the Turkish Journalists’ Association
executive board.
Journalists also say recent attacks on the media by Erdogan raised
doubts over the government’s democratic credentials and forced them
to take a closer look at the penal code.
“The Musa Kart incident sparked it off and fuelled suspicions,”
Calislar said, referring to a cartoonist who was sued by Erdogan and
then fined for depicting the premier as a cat entangled in a ball of
wool.
Experts say penal code provisions concerning the media contain terms
vague enough to leave prosecutors and judges with room for arbitrary
decisions and re-introduce jail terms for journalists, although such
penalties were purged from the press law in another reform last year.
Provisions on slander and the protection of privacy, they maintain,
are too restrictive and may deal a heavy blow to investigative
journalism.
One article of particular concern foresees up to 15 years in jail for
those who disseminate propaganda via the media against “basic
national interests” in return for material benefits from foreigners.
The article raised alarm when it emerged that explanatory notes in
the draft said it targets those who may, for instance, advocate the
withdrawal of Turkish troops from Cyprus and support claims that the
massacre of Armenians under the Ottoman Empire was genocide.
“What will happen, for example, to an institution that receives funds
from the EU and criticizes Turkey’s Cyprus policy?” Calislar asked.
“Who can guarantee that any move to prosecute it will fail?”
Dozens of dissident journalists, writers and intellectuals have been
imprisoned in Turkey in the past for voicing their opinions.
Adem Sozuer, a jurist who took part in drafting the penal code,
acknowledged that some provisions in the law should be amended, but
maintained that it guarantees freedom of the press and of opinion.
“With this law, Turkey has undoubtedly taken a step forward,” he
said.
The reform, which overhauled Turkey’s 78-year-old penal code borrowed
from fascist Italy, won praise in particular for increasing penalties
against human rights abusers and torturers and improving women’s
rights.
The government ruled out suspending the code, saying amendments could
be made later if the law creates serious problems in practice.
“I do not believe that the journalists’ suspicions will be justified
after the law takes effect,” said Koksal Toptan, the head of the
parliament’s justice commission.
“We have to see the law’s implementation. If deficiencies emerge,
they will be addressed,” he said.