TURKEY SOFTENS LAW RESTRICTING FREEDOM OF EXPRESSION, CRITICS SAY "NOT ENOUGH"

The New Anatolian, Turkey
April 30 2008

The Turkish parliament amended a controversial law late Tuesday
and softened an article in the penal code which restricts freedom
of expression.

The parliament worked late into the night to legislate the changes
in the controversial article 301 of the penal code.

Calls for reform to the law have grown since the 2007 murder of Hrant
Dink, a Turkish journalist of Armenian descent who had been taken to
court for allegedly insulting "Turkishness."

The EU has criticized Article 301 saying it restricts freedom of
speech.

Article 301 of the penal code has been used to prosecute Nobel Prize
winner Orhan Pamuk and other intellectuals.

Since 2003, hundreds of people have been tried under the controversial
law.

However, critics argue the amendments do not go far enough. Insulting
the Turkish nation will still be a crime, punishable by two years
in jail.

Parliament voted 250-65 in favor of a government-backed proposal.

Under the reformed law:

It will be a crime to insult the Turkish nation, rather than
Turkishness.

The justice minister will be required to approve the request of a
prosecutor to open each case.

The maximum sentence will be two years in jail, rather than
three. Accoridng to the new regulations a jail sentence of up to two
years can be suspended by the judge. Thus some of the victims of the
law can also escape prison with suspended sentences.

The EU has long called for changes to Article 301, arguing that the
law places severe restrictions on free speech in Turkey. The issue
has threatened to stall Turkey’s EU accession talks.

Critics, of the amendments, however, say there are several other
articles in the penal code which the conservative hardline nationalist
prosecutors could exploit to prosecute writers and journalists who
want to express their views as many articles are too flexible and
open to interpretation.