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INTERNATIONAL PEN CALLS FOR AN END TO PUBLISHER RAGIP ZARAKOLU'S TRIALS
IFEX, Canada (International Freedom of Expression Xchange)
Sept 19 2005
Country/Topic: Turkey
Date: 19 September 2005
Source: Writers in Prison Committee, International PEN
Person(s): Ragip Zarakolu
Target(s): publisher(s) , writer(s)
Type(s) of violation(s): charged , legal action
Urgency: Bulletin
(WiPC/IFEX) - Members of International PEN, the world association
of writers, are protesting the decision to take to court one of
Turkey's most well-known writers, Orhan Pamuk, for comments seen
to be "insulting" to the Turkish state. His trial is due to open in
mid-December (see IFEX alerts of 2 September and 6 April 2005). This
move has been widely condemned internationally. At the same time
other writers and journalists are on trial for commentary also seen
to be insulting to the Turkish state, its officials and institutions.
Most well known of these is the publisher Ragip Zarakolu, who has
rarely been out of the courts because of his publications since the
late 1970s.
In the next four weeks Zarakolu will be brought before courts three
times in three separate cases. On 20 September an Istanbul court will
preside over the latest in a series of hearings initiated in March this
year against Zarakolu's publication of George Jerjian's book History
Will Free All of Us/Turkish-Armenian Conciliation. The book is said
to be "insulting" to the memory of Kemal Ataturk by suggesting that
leading government figures close to Ataturk had been responsible for
the mass deportation of Armenians in 1915. Zarakolu is being charged
under articles of the Penal Code (art. 159/1 and art. 5186) that have
since been removed following penal revisions put into place in June
this year. The next day, another hearing will be held under the same
law - this time for Zarakolu's publication of a book by Professor
Dora Sakayan's An Armenian Doctor in Turkey: Garabed Hatcherian: My
Smyrna Ordeal of 1922. On 11 October, Zarakolu will yet again appear
in court to hear the latest in a series of hearings that started
in May 2004 for an article published in 2003 entitled, "Sana Ne"
("Of No Interest") that criticised Turkey's policy towards the Kurds
in Iraq. As for the hearing on 20 September, he is being tried under
a law that has changed since the introduction of the new Penal Code.
Zarakolu has long been an advocate for minority and human rights
in Turkey. In 1968 he began writing for "Ant" and "Yeni Ufuklar"
magazines. In 1971 a military government assumed power in Turkey
and convicted Zarakolu of working with an international communist
organisation. He was imprisoned for three years. On his release
Zarakolu steadfastly refused to abandon his campaign for freedom of
thought, striving for an "attitude of respect for different thoughts
and cultures to become widespread in Turkey". Unable to publish
certain works within Turkey, Zarakolu turned to the international
market, whilst he circumvented the ban on criticism of Turkey's
military regime by turning his attention to abuses of human rights by
governments in South America and elsewhere. The Belge Publishing House,
established in Istanbul in 1977 by Zarakolu and his equally eminent
wife Ayse Nur, has been a focus for Turkish censorship laws ever
since. Charges brought against the couple - at one point there were
over thirty government-brought actions - resulted in imprisonment for
both Nur and Zarakolu, the wholesale confiscation and destruction of
books and the imposition of heavy fines. In 1995 the Belge Publishing
House offices were firebombed by an extremist rightist group, forcing
it to be housed in a cellar. Since his wife's death in 2002 Zarakolu
has continued to face numerous prosecutions of which his current
trials are all too familiar.
PEN recognises that today the situation is much improved from when
the Belge Publishing House was first set up. But it is far from
perfect. PEN has on its records 50 ongoing court cases against writers,
journalists and publishers. Most cases end with acquittals or fines,
and rarely imprisonment, but the legal process moves slowly, often
taking months, sometimes years, before coming to a conclusion. The most
recent revision to the Penal Code, put into place in June this year,
shaved away a little more of the problematic elements that had in the
past led to sentences that included life imprisonment. Yet there still
remain laws that continue to penalise free speech. On 13 September,
the EU's Enlargement Commissioner, Olli Rhen, agreed that there are
serious concerns about the Turkish Penal Code, adding that the trial
of Pamuk is clearly in contravention of the European Convention on
Human Rights, to which Turkey is a signatory.
International PEN, the world association of writers with centres in
99 countries, is deeply disappointed that, despite further changes
to the Penal Code, there remains repression of freedom of expression
in Turkey. PEN calls on the Turkish authorities to make further
reviews of articles contained in the Penal Code that breach the
international standards to which Turkey is committed. These standards
include Article 19 of the United Nations International Covenant on
Civil and Political Rights, as well as Article 10 of the European
Convention on Human Rights. PEN recommends that pending such review,
all trials against writers and publishers on charges that contravene
international standards be halted.
RECOMMENDED ACTION: Send appeals to authorities: - protesting the
fact that Zarakolu is on trial in direct denial of his rights as
guaranteed under the United Nations Covenant on Civil and Political
Rights and the European Convention on Human Rights, to which the
Turkish government is a signatory
APPEALS TO: Prime Minister Racep Tayyip Erdogan TC Easbaskanlik Ankara,
Turkey Fax: +90 312 417 0476
Cemil Cicek Minister of Justice TC Adalet Bakanligi Ankara, Turkey Fax:
+ 90 312 417 3954
Similar appeals should be sent to the Turkish Embassy in your own
country.
http://www.ifex.org/en/content/view/full/69318/
IFEX, Canada (International Freedom of Expression Xchange)
Sept 19 2005
Country/Topic: Turkey
Date: 19 September 2005
Source: Writers in Prison Committee, International PEN
Person(s): Ragip Zarakolu
Target(s): publisher(s) , writer(s)
Type(s) of violation(s): charged , legal action
Urgency: Bulletin
(WiPC/IFEX) - Members of International PEN, the world association
of writers, are protesting the decision to take to court one of
Turkey's most well-known writers, Orhan Pamuk, for comments seen
to be "insulting" to the Turkish state. His trial is due to open in
mid-December (see IFEX alerts of 2 September and 6 April 2005). This
move has been widely condemned internationally. At the same time
other writers and journalists are on trial for commentary also seen
to be insulting to the Turkish state, its officials and institutions.
Most well known of these is the publisher Ragip Zarakolu, who has
rarely been out of the courts because of his publications since the
late 1970s.
In the next four weeks Zarakolu will be brought before courts three
times in three separate cases. On 20 September an Istanbul court will
preside over the latest in a series of hearings initiated in March this
year against Zarakolu's publication of George Jerjian's book History
Will Free All of Us/Turkish-Armenian Conciliation. The book is said
to be "insulting" to the memory of Kemal Ataturk by suggesting that
leading government figures close to Ataturk had been responsible for
the mass deportation of Armenians in 1915. Zarakolu is being charged
under articles of the Penal Code (art. 159/1 and art. 5186) that have
since been removed following penal revisions put into place in June
this year. The next day, another hearing will be held under the same
law - this time for Zarakolu's publication of a book by Professor
Dora Sakayan's An Armenian Doctor in Turkey: Garabed Hatcherian: My
Smyrna Ordeal of 1922. On 11 October, Zarakolu will yet again appear
in court to hear the latest in a series of hearings that started
in May 2004 for an article published in 2003 entitled, "Sana Ne"
("Of No Interest") that criticised Turkey's policy towards the Kurds
in Iraq. As for the hearing on 20 September, he is being tried under
a law that has changed since the introduction of the new Penal Code.
Zarakolu has long been an advocate for minority and human rights
in Turkey. In 1968 he began writing for "Ant" and "Yeni Ufuklar"
magazines. In 1971 a military government assumed power in Turkey
and convicted Zarakolu of working with an international communist
organisation. He was imprisoned for three years. On his release
Zarakolu steadfastly refused to abandon his campaign for freedom of
thought, striving for an "attitude of respect for different thoughts
and cultures to become widespread in Turkey". Unable to publish
certain works within Turkey, Zarakolu turned to the international
market, whilst he circumvented the ban on criticism of Turkey's
military regime by turning his attention to abuses of human rights by
governments in South America and elsewhere. The Belge Publishing House,
established in Istanbul in 1977 by Zarakolu and his equally eminent
wife Ayse Nur, has been a focus for Turkish censorship laws ever
since. Charges brought against the couple - at one point there were
over thirty government-brought actions - resulted in imprisonment for
both Nur and Zarakolu, the wholesale confiscation and destruction of
books and the imposition of heavy fines. In 1995 the Belge Publishing
House offices were firebombed by an extremist rightist group, forcing
it to be housed in a cellar. Since his wife's death in 2002 Zarakolu
has continued to face numerous prosecutions of which his current
trials are all too familiar.
PEN recognises that today the situation is much improved from when
the Belge Publishing House was first set up. But it is far from
perfect. PEN has on its records 50 ongoing court cases against writers,
journalists and publishers. Most cases end with acquittals or fines,
and rarely imprisonment, but the legal process moves slowly, often
taking months, sometimes years, before coming to a conclusion. The most
recent revision to the Penal Code, put into place in June this year,
shaved away a little more of the problematic elements that had in the
past led to sentences that included life imprisonment. Yet there still
remain laws that continue to penalise free speech. On 13 September,
the EU's Enlargement Commissioner, Olli Rhen, agreed that there are
serious concerns about the Turkish Penal Code, adding that the trial
of Pamuk is clearly in contravention of the European Convention on
Human Rights, to which Turkey is a signatory.
International PEN, the world association of writers with centres in
99 countries, is deeply disappointed that, despite further changes
to the Penal Code, there remains repression of freedom of expression
in Turkey. PEN calls on the Turkish authorities to make further
reviews of articles contained in the Penal Code that breach the
international standards to which Turkey is committed. These standards
include Article 19 of the United Nations International Covenant on
Civil and Political Rights, as well as Article 10 of the European
Convention on Human Rights. PEN recommends that pending such review,
all trials against writers and publishers on charges that contravene
international standards be halted.
RECOMMENDED ACTION: Send appeals to authorities: - protesting the
fact that Zarakolu is on trial in direct denial of his rights as
guaranteed under the United Nations Covenant on Civil and Political
Rights and the European Convention on Human Rights, to which the
Turkish government is a signatory
APPEALS TO: Prime Minister Racep Tayyip Erdogan TC Easbaskanlik Ankara,
Turkey Fax: +90 312 417 0476
Cemil Cicek Minister of Justice TC Adalet Bakanligi Ankara, Turkey Fax:
+ 90 312 417 3954
Similar appeals should be sent to the Turkish Embassy in your own
country.
http://www.ifex.org/en/content/view/full/69318/