Turkish Press
May 27 2005

Turkish parliament amends controversial penal code

ANKARA – Turkey’s parliament Friday approved a package of amendments
to a controversial new penal code, put on hold in March amid harsh
criticism that it restricts press freedoms and contains technical
flaws.

The code, which was first adopted in September amid much fanfare and
praise, was a key condition that Ankara fulfilled to win a date for
accession talks with the European Union at a summit in Brussels in
December.

It overhauls Turkey’s 78-year-old penal code borrowed from fascist
Italy and has won praise for introducing a more liberal criminal
justice system, in particular increasing penalties against human
rights abusers and torturers and improving the rights of women and
children.

The package adopted Friday contains improvements to a number of
articles concerning the media, but press groups have denounced the
changes as inadequate on the grounds that journalists may still end
up in prison, even though jail sentences were purged from the press
law in another reform last year.

The amendments notably scrap provisions that envisaged increased
penalties for some offenses if they are committed via the media, such
as slander, insult to the president and incitement to war.

The lawmakers also narrowed the scope of a controversial article
envisaging up to 10 years in jail for those who accept benefits from
foreigners in return for acting against “fundamental national
interests.”

A provision that would have increased the jail term to 15 years if
the offender committed the crime by spreading propaganda via the
media was removed from the code.

The article raised alarm when it emerged that explanatory notes in
the draft bill said it targets those who may, for instance, advocate
the withdrawal of Turkish troops from Cyprus and support claims that
the massacres of Armenians under the Ottoman Empire was genocide.

Other articles denounced by the media, however, remained unchanged.

Most of them concern the protection of privacy and the secrecy of
judicial proceedings until suspects are formally charged.

Press groups say the provisions are too restrictive and will deal a
heavy blow to investigative journalism.

Complete with Friday’s amendments, the new penal code is now
scheduled to enter force on June 1, if it is approved by the
president.

A row between the government, which has its roots in a banned
Islamist movement, and the secularist main opposition marred the
debate on the amendments late Thursday when ruling party deputies
proposed a last-minute change.

The amendment, approved later with support from AKP MPs, paves the
way for those who run illegal educational institutions to escape with
a fine rather than a jail term.

Turkey’s secular elite is categorically opposed to easing
restrictions on opening schools on the grounds that such a move will
allow political Islamist movements to set up their own schools and
train Islamist-leaning sympathisers.

The conservative AKP is often accused of having a secret Islamist
agenda, even though it has disavowed its Islamist roots.