EU warns Turkey over freedom of speech after court upholds journalist’s conviction

AP Worldstream;
Jul 12, 2006

The European Union on Wednesday warned Turkey over freedom of speech
provisions in its penal code after a court confirmed the conviction
of an Armenian-Turkish journalist accused of insulting the country’s
national identity.

"I am disappointed by this judgment, which limits the exercise of
freedom of expression in Turkey," said Olli Rehn, the EU official
overseeing Turkey’s membership talks with the 25-member bloc.

A Turkish high court on Tuesday confirmed a six-month sentence imposed
on Hrant Dink for the crime of "attempting to influence the judiciary"
after his bilingual Turkish-Armenian newspaper ran articles criticizing
a law that makes it a crime to "insult Turkishness."

The EU has frequently warned Turkey that its efforts to join the
union could be hampered by article 301 of the penal code, which sets
out penalties for insulting the Turkish Republic, its officials, or
"Turkishness," and has been used to bring charges against dozens of
journalists, publishers and scholars.

"Freedom of expression is a key principle" of the criteria for EU
membership, Rehn said in a statement.

Although Tuesday’s court ruling postponed the application of Dink’s
sentence and asked a local court to review the case, Rehn said it
set an example that could be followed in other cases under article 301.

He said it showed that Turkish courts had failed to apply the law in
line with EU standards.

He said the EU will review the situation toward the end of this year
in a progress report on Turkey’s membership negotiations. The EU
has warned it could suspend the membership talks this year if Turkey
fails to meet EU accession requirements.