INTERNATIONAL WRITERS AND PUBLISHERS CONDEMN THE SENTENCING OF RAGıP ZARAKOLU

BÄA
ategori/english/107762/international-writers-and-p ublishers-condemn-the-sentencing-of-ragip-zarakolu
June 20 2008
Turkey

The International Publishers Association (IPA) and the Writers in
Prison Committee of International PEN strongly condemn the sentencing
of publisher Ragıp Zarakolu in Istanbul on 17 June for "insulting
the State" (Article 301 TPC).

The organizations are especially alarmed that this is the first
conviction since this article was slightly amended on 30 April 2008,
after over 1,000 people, including hundreds of writers, publishers
and journalists, have been brought to the courts in the three years
since its inception in 2005.

IPA and PEN have been calling for the repeal of this law ever since it
was presented in draft form, and are deeply disappointed that rather
than remove this legislation, the amendments are simply cosmetic.

Around 29 writers and journalists are on trial today under Article
301. They are among a total of 79 charged under a range of laws that
impinge on the right to free speech, including Article 318 that has
led numerous commentators on conscientious objection to the courts,
and a raft of articles under Anti Terror legislation and against
"incitement" that have been used against writers on the Kurdish issues.

There is clearly much more to do to bring Turkey in line with its
international requirements that safeguard free expression.

Ragıp Zarakolu, recipient of the 2008 IPA Freedom to Publish Prize
and an Honorary Member of several PEN Centres worldwide has said that
he will appeal the sentence and is determined to go as far as the
European Court of Human Rights if need be. IPA and PEN support him
in demanding that Publisher Zarakolu be acquitted in appeal and urge
the Turkish Judiciary to complete this trial swiftly, efficiently,
quickly and fairly.

The case leading to the conviction of Ragıp Zarakolu was initiated
in December 2004 for the publication of London-based author George
Jerjian’s book entitled: The truth will set us free/Armenians and Turks
reconciled. The first hearing of this case took place in Istanbul on
16 March 2005 and since then there have been more than ten hearings.

Ragıp Zarakolu was originally charged under Article 159 TPC,
which criminalized acts that "insult or belittle" various state
institutions . This article was abolished in 2005 and replaced with the
now notorious Article 301. In some cases, defendants on trial under
Article 159 benefited from the changes by having their cases closed,
but this was not so for Zarakolu. Instead he found that his trial
continued under the new law. When Article 301 was slightly amended
on 30 April 2008, Zarakolu hoped that this time the case would be
dropped, or at the very least referred to the Ministry of Justice
for review as now provided under the amendments. However the judge
ruled that as Zarakolu was tried under the old Penal Code Article 159,
the new amendments do not pertain.

Observers believe that Zarakolu is being singled out by the more
conservative elements of the judiciary because of his decades of
struggle for freedom of expression, and particularly his promotion
of minority rights. Throughout his life, Ragıp Zarakolu has
been subjected to a series of long, time-consuming and expensive
court hearings. The conduct of the trial in itself took the form of
harassment and punishment against the defendant for daring to produce
works, which touch on sensitive issues such as the Armenian question,
Kurdish and minority rights.

The condemnation of Ragıp Zarakolu shows that the recent cosmetic
change to Article 301 TPC was not enough to put an end to freedom of
expression trials in Turkey. Turkish legislation (new Article 301, Law
5816 etc.) must be amended or repealed to meet international standards,
including the Charter of Fundamental Rights of the European Union.

Ragıp Zarakolu will be awarded the 2008 IPA Freedom to Publish
in Amsterdam on 18 September 2008 during the opening the opening
ceremony of the International Seminar on Neo-censorship (18-20
September 2008). This seminar is part of the Amsterdam World Book
Capital 2008 programme. For more about the seminar, please see:
age=agenda&y=2008&m=9&d=18

More about IPA and PEN:

IPA, established in Paris in 1896, represents the publishing industry
worldwide through 65 national, regional and specialised publishers
associations in 53 countries.

International PEN was founded in 1921 in London. It is represented
worldwide through 140 centres in over 100 countries. Both organisations
are accredited Non-Governmental Organisations enjoying consultative
status to the United Nations and seek to promote and defend the
fundamental freedoms to publish, to read and to write, defending the
rights of authors and publishers to create and distribute intellectual
works in complete freedom.

For further information, please contact:

Alexis Krikorian Director – Freedom to Publish International Publishers
Association 3, avenue de Miremont CH – 1206 Geneva Tel: +41 22 346 3018
krikorian@internationalpublishers.org

Or Sara Whyatt Programme Director Writers in Prison Committee
International PEN Brownlow House 50-51 High Holborn UK – London
WC1V 6ER Tel: +44 20 7405 0338 sara.whyatt@internationalpen.org.uk
www.internatio nalpen.org.uk

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