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BAKU: Turkey Eases Restrictions On Freedom Of Speech

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  • BAKU: Turkey Eases Restrictions On Freedom Of Speech

    TURKEY EASES RESTRICTIONS ON FREEDOM OF SPEECH

    Trend News Agency, Azerbaijan
    April 30 2008

    The Turkish parliament early Wednesday passed amendments to the
    infamous Article 301 of the criminal code which criminalizes "insulting
    Turkishness" and which has been strongly criticized by the European
    Union and human rights groups, reported the dpa.

    Hundreds of writers and intellectuals have been charged under Article
    301, the most prominent being Nobel laureate Orhan Pamuk and ethnic
    Armenian journalist Hrant Dink who was murdered after being found
    guilty of "insulting Turkishness".

    The amended law replaces "insulting Turkishness" with "insulting the
    Turkish nation", reduces the highest penalty that courts may give
    from three years to two years imprisonment and makes it a requirement
    that the justice minister must give approval for any court cases to
    actually begin.

    The European Union and human rights groups have long campaigned
    for the law to be amended, but first reactions suggest that further
    pressure will be put on the Turkish government to relax restrictions
    on freedom of speech.

    "This is just lipstick for the European Union", Eren Keskin of the
    Human Rights Association told the Deutsche Press Agentur. "The guts
    of the new article show no real changes that might affect the outcome
    of a trial."

    Keskin, who was found guilty in March under Article 301 of "insulting
    the armed forces" for suggesting that the military has too much
    influence in Turkey, said that with the new requirement that the
    justice minister give permission for court cases to begin meant that
    investigation periods will now be longer.

    "I do not want changes. I want the article annulled," Keskin
    said. "Stating your opinion will still be a crime".

    Journalist and rights campaigner Ertugrul Kurkcu also criticized the
    new law saying that there has not been any significant change.

    "It still leaves a lot of space for judges to decide and give their
    own definition of the demarcation line between criticism and insult,"
    Kurkcu said. "The article should have been annulled, leaving no space
    for prosecution of writers and intellectuals."
    From: Baghdasarian
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