NGOS PROPOSE REDUCTION IN ARTICLE 301 SENTENCES
Ercan Yavuz Ankara
Today’s Zaman, Turkey
Feb 6 2007
After a round of failed attempts, nongovernmental organizations have
reached an agreement on a joint proposal for changes to Article 301
of the Turkish Penal Code, an issue that has been subject of a heated
discussion since the murder on Jan. 19 of Turkish-Armenian journalist
Hrant Dink.
The NGOs agreed that the term "Turkishness" should be kept in an
amended Article 301 but said the phrase "denigrating Turkishness"
should be replaced with "scorning and deriding Turkishness." The
proposal also foresees a reduction in prison sentences stipulated
by Article 301. The NGOs are now expected to announce the text to
the public at a press conference on Thursday and then present it to
the government.
The government has been under growing pressure to change Article
301 since the murder of Dink, who had been tried and sentenced to
a six-month suspended imprisonment. It has said repeatedly that it
was against outright abolishment of the article, although it could
consider partial changes on the basis of concrete proposals to be
made by the NGOs. Since last November, Turkish NGOs have held several
meetings but failed to come up with a joint proposal on how the
law should be amended. Their last meeting was in Ankara on Friday,
when representatives of labor unions, employers’ associations and
professional organizations left without an agreement.
Convening again on Sunday, the NGO chairmen sought avenues for
agreement. In a move to step up pressure on the government to take
prompt steps for amendments to Article 301, the NGOs decided to
announce the agreed text to the public on Thursday of this week. Only
the Turkish Medical Association (TTB) is reported to have expressed
a dissenting opinion on the draft at the Sunday meeting.
In the agreed text, NGOs do not demand removal of the terms
"Turkishness" and "Republic." But they do redefine "Turkishness,"
although it is not visible in the text of the article, since a
definition of the term is provided in a separate, appended text
explaining the justification for the law. Under that definition,
the term "Turkishness" is explained in reference to Article 66 of the
Constitution, which states "everyone tied to the Turkish Republic by
bond of citizenship is Turkish."
The maximum limit for punishment imposed for crimes mentioned in
Article 301 was decreased from three years to two years. The third
paragraph, reading, "In cases where denigration of Turkishness is
committed by a Turkish citizen in another country, the punishment
shall be increased by one-third," was deleted, meaning that the same
punishment should be applicable irrespective of where the crime has
been committed.
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The existing and proposed texts of Article 301
ARTICLE 301: (1) Public denigration of Turkishness, the Republic or the
Grand National Assembly of Turkey shall be punishable by imprisonment
of between six months and three years.
(2) Public denigration of the Government of the Republic of Turkey,
the judicial institutions of the State, the military or security
structures shall be punishable by imprisonment of between six months
and two years.
(3) In cases where denigration of Turkishness is committed by a
Turkish citizen in another country the punishment shall be increased
by one-third.
(4) Expressions of thought intended to criticize shall not constitute
a crime.
The text proposed by NGOs ARTICLE 301: (1) Public denigration of
Turkishness [a reference to Article 66 of the Constitution is provided
in the ‘reasoned statement’ of the law], the Republic or the Grand
National Assembly of Turkey shall be punishable by imprisonment of
between six months and two years.
(2) Public denigration of the Government of the Republic of Turkey,
the judicial institutions of the State, the military or security
structures shall be punishable by imprisonment of between six months
and two years.
(3) Expressions of thought intended to criticize shall not constitute
a crime.