PRISON FOR TURKEY BOOK ‘INSULT’

BBC NEWS
7459729.stm
2008/06/17 17:37:32 GMT

A Turkish publisher has been sentenced to five months in prison
for publishing a book by a British author about the mass killing of
Armenians in 1915.

Ragip Zarakolu was found guilty of "insulting the institutions of
the Turkish republic" under Article 301 of Turkey’s penal code.

The controversial law was recently reformed under pressure from the
EU to ensure freedom of speech in Turkey.

This is the first high-profile verdict to be handed down since then.

Mr Zarakolu’s sentence seems to confirm campaigners’ fears that
changes to the law were merely cosmetic, says the BBC’s Sarah Rainsford
in Istanbul.

In April it became a crime to insult the Turkish nation, rather than
Turkishness. But insulting the Turkish nation can still be punished
by up to two years in jail.

Sensitive issue

Mr Zarakolu was brought to trial for publishing a book by British
author George Jerjian on the mass killings of Armenians under the
Ottoman Empire in 1915.

I do not accept myself as convicted. This is a conviction for official
history and for denialism Ragip Zarakolu

Turkey denies the killings were genocide and the issue remains highly
sensitive.

Passing sentence, the judge told Mr Zarakolu he had insulted the
Turkish republic and its founders. His own defence – that he had the
right to criticise – was rejected.

Mr Zarakolu’s case was not referred to the Turkish ministry of justice,
as required under the reforms, and he has said he will appeal against
the verdict, our correspondent reports.

His sentence will not be imposed until that appeal process is complete.

Outside the court, Mr Zarakolu said that such rulings had silenced
many writers in Turkey but that he would continue to challenge the
restrictions.

"I was partly waiting for this result. But it is a struggle for the
truth and it will go on. I do not accept myself as convicted. This
is a conviction for official history and for denialism," he said.

The justice ministry recently revealed that 1,700 people were tried
under Article 301 in 2006 alone.