BÄ°A, Turkey
Sept 12 2008

Writer And Journalist Ahmet Altan Charged With Insulting Turkish Nation

Although the Ministry of Justice stops some of the article 301 cases,
it still gives many permissions for trial under this article. Writer
and journalist Ahmet Altan may become the next victim for insulting
the Turkish nation.

Bia news center – Istanbul-ankara
12-09-2008
Erol Ã-NDEROÄ?LU – hukuk@bianet.org

Article 301 continues to create victims, although some do escape
prosecution `thanks to’ the decision of no permission to some trials
under article 301 by the Ministry of Justice.

The right to give permission to be prosecuted under article 301 was
given to the Ministry of Justice with the revision in article 301 on
May 8.

In its present form the revised 301 forbids `denigrating Turkishness,
the Republic, the institutions and organs of the State.’

The latest victims of article 301 are Ahmet Altan for his article `Ah
Ahparik’ (‘Oh brother’ in Armenian) and director and authorized
representative of the newspaper Taraf Adnan Demir. The complaint was
filed by the Ankara branch of the Great Union Party (BBP).

The BBP representatives claim that the writer who wrote `the Unionists
[of the Ottoman era] conducted a cruel genocide’ shows the Turkish
nation as genocide-seekers, barbaric and immoral.

The ministry did not give permission to BoÄ?atekin’s prosecution
On the other hand, the Ministry of Justice did not give permission for
the prosecution of owner of the newspaper `Gerger Fırat’
Hacı BoÄ?atekin, who had criticized Turkey’s past social
policies with his article titled `Turkey made a mistake.’

The Ministry’s reasoning was that the said article was simply a
reflection of the writer’s opinions and thoughts.

After the revision of article 301, 249 files have been sent to the
Ministry of Justice for permission. The most recent permission given
was the one for Temel Demirer’s case; his case was deemed prosecutable
under 301. Mehmet Ali Å?ahin, Minister of Justice, have denied
permission for 115 case, but did the exact opposite for 36 cases. 98
files are still under inspection.

Pamak and Tanrıverdi are waiting for the decision of the
ministry President of the Scientific and Cultural Researches
Foundation (Ä°LKAV) Mehmet Pamak and President of the Teachers
Union Yusuf Tanrıverdi are waiting for a similar permission
decision to be (or not) prosecuted under article 301 from the Ministry
of Justice for their alleged denigration of the Republic and the armed
forces. Since the ministry’s reply is not back yet, their hearing is
delayed to November 17. (EÃ-/EÃ`/TB)

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