Today’s Zaman, Turkey
June 21 2008
Activists, OSCE slam publisher Zarakolu’s conviction
Activists condemned the conviction of a Turkish publisher on Thursday
under a controversial law that Ankara amended just two months ago in a
bid to satisfy European Union demands for greater freedom of
expression.
Writers’ organization International PEN said the conviction of
Ragıp Zarakolu for insulting Turkey showed that Ankara’s reform
of Turkish Penal Code (TCK) Article 301 was meaningless. The reform
removed a reference to `insulting Turkishness,’ for which dozens of
writers, including Nobel laureate Orhan Pamuk, had been put on trial
— but it is still a crime to insult the Turkish nation and
state. Justice Ministry approval is also needed now to open a case
under the article.
`This is a very clear example that the so-called amendment of 301 is
good for nothing. It was just a bad joke,’ International PEN chief
Eugene Schoulgin told Reuters, adding that there were more than 80
such cases pending against writers and journalists. Turkish writers
had warned before the April amendment that they would continue to be
targeted by nationalist prosecutors.
`This court decision seems to bear out our worst fears that the
changes to the law won’t necessarily make a difference,’ said Human
Rights Watch’s Turkey researcher Emma Sinclair-Webb.
The ruling Justice and Development Party (AK Party) defended the
changes to Article 301, saying that other members of the EU, which
Ankara wants to join, have similar rules. Brussels welcomed the reform
as a step forward but called for further moves.
Publisher Zarakolu was sentenced to five months in jail, convertible
into a fine, but will appeal, Schoulgin said. Zarakolu was not
available for comment. Zarakolu was tried for publishing a translation
of a book about the Armenian massacres, which Ankara denies amounted
to `genocide.’ George Jerjian’s `The Truth Will Set Us Free’ is a call
for reconciliation between Turks and Armenians and tells the story of
how a Turk saved the writer’s Armenian grandmother.
Meanwhile, Miklos Haraszti, the OSCE representative on media freedom,
on Thursday condemned the five-month prison sentence handed down to
Zarakolu. `It is disappointing that despite recent changes in the law,
serious obstacles to free speech in Turkey remain. People are still
jailed for publishing peaceful ideas,’ said Haraszti. `Freedom of
debate in Turkey will increase only if the government stops trying to
control the debate in the first place. Article 301 must be abolished
altogether.’
The sentence is commutable to a monetary fine, but Zarakolu has said
he opposes paying the fine on principle and will appeal the verdict.
`Regardless of the legal dispute over this particular case, publishing
a book critical about a country’s history should not be criminalized
in a democracy. The Helsinki principles, to which OSCE participating
states including Turkey have committed, provide for the free flow of
information and ideas,’ said Haraszti.
In May 2008, Zarakolu was the recipient of the International
Publishers Association’s Freedom to Publish Prize.
On the other hand, Council of Europe Secretary-General Terry Davis
said new anxieties had been created over Turkey in terms of `freedom
of expression.’ A statement he issued says the amendments to Article
301 raised hopes but that recent cases filed under the article against
a publisher, a singer and a children’s chorus had cast a shadow over
these hopes. `As a friend of Turkey, I want to remind the Turkish
officials that they need to respect freedom of expression to establish
a real democracy. Also, this right is protected by Article 10 of the
European Convention on Human Rights, which Turkey ratified in 1950
when it joined the Council of Europe,’ Davis said.
From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress