OSCE MEDIA FREEDOM REPRESENTATIVE PROTESTS PRISON SENTENCE HANDED TO PUBLISHER OF BOOK ON TURKISH HISTORY

ABHaber
EU-Turkey News Network
June 19 2008
Belgium

Miklos Haraszti, the OSCE Representative on Freedom of the Media,
today condemned the five-month prison sentence handed down to Turkish
publisher Ragip Zarakolu for "insulting the institutions of the Turkish
Republic" despite the fact that Article 301 of Turkey’s Penal Code
was recently reformed.

"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."

Following a reform of Article 301 in April, the maximum prison
sentence was reduced from three years to two, and the crime of
"insulting Turkishness" was changed to "insulting the Turkish nation".

On 17 June, an Istanbul court found Zarakolu guilty of "insulting
the institutions of the Turkish Republic" for publishing a Turkish
translation of "The Truth Will Set Us Free" by British author George
Jerjian. The book covers the killings of Armenians in 1915.

The sentence is commutable to a monetary fine, but Zarakolu has
said he opposes paying the fine on principle and will appeal the
verdict. Following the amendments, cases under Article 301 must be
referred to the Justice Ministry. However, the judge decided not to
refer Zarakolu’s case on the basis that it was launched under Article
159, an earlier version of the current Article 301 of the Penal Code.

"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.