Turkish author back in court
United Press International
July 11 2006
ANKARA, Turkey, July 11 (UPI) — The case against Turkish author Elif
Shafak, who is charged with "insulting Turkishness" under Article 301
in the Turkish Criminal Code, was reopened.
Shafak wrote "The Bastard of Istanbul," in which a character
references Armenian genocide, Thebookstandard.com reported Tuesday.
An Istanbul public prosecutor dismissed the charges last month, based
on arguments that the book is a work of fiction and therefore cannot
be prosecuted.
But a complaint from a member of the Unity of Jurists caused the
seventh high criminal court to overrule the decision. Similar charges
have also been brought against Shafak’s translator Asli Bican and
publisher Semi Soekmen, of the Metis Publishing House.
"The situation in Turkey has changed since the introduction of
Article 301 last year," Director of the Writers in Prison Committee
at International PEN Sara Whyatt, told Thebookstandard. "I think the
trials are intended to harass and intimidate these writers and
journalists. Elif Shafak is at the beginning of what could be a long
and painful process."
