BÝA, Turkey
Oct 20 2006
Chomsky’s Publishers On Trial
Publishers of the translation of Chomsky’s "Role of Mass Media:
Manufacturing of Consent" tell court it shouldn’t be them facing the
bench. Publisher Tas, translator Abadoglu, editor Tosun and Kurhan
face up to six years in jail, if found guilty.
BIA News Center
19/10/2006 Erol ONDEROGLU
BÝA (Istanbul) – Four people have been charged this week for
involvement in the publishing of a Turkish language translation of
American linguist and philosopher Noam Chomsky ‘s "Role of Mass
Media: Manufacturing of Consent" facing 1.5 to 6 years imprisonment
if found guilty.
Aram Publishing House executive Fatih Tas, the book’s translator
Ender Abadoglu, editor Lutfi Taylan Tosun and Omer Faruk Kurhan, one
of the redactors of the book, turned up for the first hearing of the
case at the Istanbul 2nd Criminal Court of First Instance flanked by
their lawyers on Wednesday.
All suspects are accused under articles 216 and 301 of the Turkish
Penal Code for "publicly denigrating Turkishness, the Republic and
the Parliament" and "inciting hatred and enmity among the people".
The first trial saw presiding judge Sevim Efendiler agreeing with
public prosecutor Kadir Nazmi Yelkenci’s opinion and rejecting
attorney Ozcan Kilic’s request for the case file to be postponed as
"criminal liability" outlined in article 11/4 of the Press Law was
contrary to the Constitution and the European Convention on Human
Rights.
Addressing the court at the start of the hearing, translator Abadoglu
explained, "The opinions in the book are opinions of the author. I
believe the translator cannot be held responsible for these
opinions".
Abadoglu referred to the recent ordeal of the Armenian genocide bill
in the French Parliament and said that although opinions in favor of
an Armenian genocide having taken place were translated into Turkish
press reports non of the translators had been prosecuted.
"It is wrong to put publishers and translators on trial"
In his statement to the court, Tosun said his function was that of
ensuring the book was properly translated from its original and
expressed in good Turkish.
"As far as I checked it," he said, "there was no problem in the
translation". Tosun added "I did not see any factors of offence in
the work".
Publisher Tas said he saw it inappropriate that he and the
translators were being put on trial for a book whose author was will
arrive and defended that the book itself was an analysis of the media
wit
h international importance.
The last defendant to address the court was Kurhan who said he had
noticed no statement in the book that could be charged under article
216 on "inciting hated and enmity" and argued that the very sole of
controversial article 301 served to protect the immunity of the state
and was open to interpretations and mistakes.
After the defendants made their statements, attorney Inan Yilmaz
referred to author Noam Chomsky saying "If we are putting an author,
linguist and a professor of philosophy with international importance
on trial, we should give these individuals the right to defend
themselves in the courts of the land".
"My client before you has translated the work of this writer who we
cannot pt on trial. Unfortunately with such cases we are living in
the shadows" he said.
Defendants to give written defense
Stressing that none of the four suspects on trial were being charged
for their own opinions, attorney Ugur Demirci denied the allegations
and informed the court it would be receiving a written defense.
Of the defense lawyers, Ozcan Kilic said the book targeted the United
States and added "US operations, massacres and coups throughout the
world are being explained. The way these reflect in the media are
being revealed. In this context it is a strange situation that four
people are on trial under articles 216 and 301".
Having heard the initial defense arguments, judge Efendiler agreed to
give time for written statements to be prepared and adjourned the
court to December 20.
John Tirman’s case continues
This week’s case against Aram Publishing House comes in the footsteps
of another trial involving a Turkish translation of an American
author’s work.
In September, the same court heard charges against translators Lutfi
Taylan Tosun and Aysel Yildirim alongside Aram Publishing House owner
Fatih Tas for the Turkish language copy of John Tirman’s book "Spoils
of War: The Human Cost of America’s Arms Trade".
If found guilty on the charges of "publicly denigrating the armed
forces" and "insulting [modern Turkey’s founder] Ataturk" through
content originally written by Tirman himself, each of those
defendants face up to 6.5 years imprisonment.
Both translators in Tirman’s book case also rejected the accusations
while Tas’s attorney Ozcan Kilic rejected the trial of the publisher
on grounds that the author of the work was known and there was no
reason to put a publisher on trial just because the author lived
abroad.
The investigation into the Turkish language copy of "Spoils of War:
The Human Cost of America’s Arms Trade" started in November 2005. It
covers various excerpts in Tirman’s work that focuses on criticism of
US policy in the Middle East – arguing that dollars earned through
the arms trade led to support of militarization in the region while
holding back essential democratic reforms.
Subject to the Istanbul charges are sections of the book relating to
severe human rights violations allegedly committed by security forces
in the 1990s inclusive of claims of "white genocide", assimilation,
censorship and denial of cultural rights.
The Tirman case will continue in Istanbul on November 29.
(EO/II/YE/EU)
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