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Journal Chrétien, France
Jan 31 2007
Turkish Police Clamp Strict Security on Christians' Trial
Measures follow murder of Armenian journalist ; defense lawyer smells
conspiracy plot.
by Barbara G. Baker
ISTANBUL, January 31 - Strict security controls surrounded the second
court hearing for two Turkish Christians facing criminal charges for
insulting Turkish identity under the nation's controversial Article
301.
Police had thrown cordons around the Silivri courthouse and main
streets into the town hours before Hakan Tastan and Turan Topal
arrived from Istanbul with their lawyer for the 2 p.m. trial on
Monday (January 29).
Heightened police protection for the two Christians and their lawyer
was attributed to the shocking assassination 10 days earlier of
another Turkish Christian, prominent Armenian journalist Hrant Dink,
murdered in Istanbul by a teenage nationalist.
Editor of the weekly Agos newspaper, Dink had drawn the wrath of
Turkish nationalists after his trial and conviction last year under
Article 301, the same restrictive law against freedom of speech under
which Tastan and Topal are charged.
Uniformed police officers met the defendants' car as it approached
the center of Silivri, a town 45 miles west of Istanbul . Authorities
were already questioning and thoroughly searching everyone entering
the courthouse, refusing admittance to onlookers or members of the
press.
Meanwhile, small groups of young men could be seen idling around the
streets adjoining the court building, eyeing the entrance and all
passersby.
But police spirited the defendants in and out of the back door of the
courthouse, preventing tensions like those aroused by nationalist
demonstrators at the first hearing in November. In doing so, they
also frustrated a mob of journalists and photographers lying in wait
for the court participants at the front steps of the courthouse.
As soon as the hearing concluded, the Christians and their lawyer
were immediately escorted out of town. When onlookers spotted them
leaving the courthouse grounds, one police officer climbed in their
car until they left the city limits under police car escort and
approached the main highway.
`Of course, they provided us with very serious protection,' defense
lawyer Haydar Polat told Compass afterwards. `But at the same time
this created a lot of apprehension for my clients, with police
climbing into our car, taking photographs of our license plate, etc.'
The two Christians, who are both converts from Islam, are also
accused under less-known penal statutes of reviling Islam (Article
216) and secretly compiling private data on Turkish citizens for a
Bible correspondence course (Article 135).
At their January 29 hearing, the presiding judge again closed his
court to all observers, with only the defendants and their lawyer
present for the defense. They faced seven prosecuting lawyers led by
ultranationalist attorney Kemal Kerincsiz, notorious in Turkey for
having hounded the outspoken Dink with multiple charges under Article
301.
Contradictory Testimony
Fatih Kose, 23, the only adult among the three accusers, took the
witness stand for the first time in the case. In his testimony, Kose
reportedly admitted that he had visited Tastan's church in Istanbul
several times of his own free will.
While reiterating his written accusations, Kose contradicted himself
several times as to where and when he had heard specific `illegal'
statements, and from which of the two defendants. `His testimony was
very contradictory,' Polat said, `and this kept angering the judge,
who really chewed him out over many of his statements.'
When Polat asked the court whether Kose was a member of any known
political group in Silivri, Kerincsiz reportedly shook his fists at
Polat, objecting so vehemently to the question that the judge ordered
him to stop `making a show.'
Kerincsiz further embarrassed himself when the judge demanded to know
why he had not produced the two teenager accusers in court. The
lawyer's explanation that the two boys had not gotten permission to
be absent from school that day fell flat with the judge, who dryly
reminded Kerincsiz that all the nation's schools had closed three
days earlier for their annual winter recess.
A 16-minute video submitted by the prosecution at the first hearing
as evidence against the defendants proved to have been filmed at a
distance, with no sound track of anyone's voices to corroborate the
accusers' claims. Tastan and Topal had been filmed secretly while
conversing in a tea garden in Silivri with several youths.
The prosecution then submitted another video, said to have been
filmed secretly in Tastan's church during a communion service, to be
examined before the next hearing for alleged insults against
Turkishness or Islam uttered by the defendants.
`This was exactly a plot, a conspiracy,' lawyer Polat said, after
hearing Kose's testimony in court. `The youths asked for Bibles, for
brochures, they go of their own accord to church - and then they come
and complain !'
Setting the next hearing for April 18, the judge ordered police
escorts to ensure that all three complainants were brought, `by force
if necessary,' to testify. The underage plaintiffs have been
identified by their first names as Alper, 16, and Oguz, 17.
Gendarme Ordered to Testify
The judge also issued a summons for an official witness to testify
from the regional gendarme headquarters, which initiated a raid last
October on Tastan's home and the defendants' Istanbul office,
allegedly searching for weapons.
In addition, the court requested a copy of news footage aired on
Turkey 's ATV channel on November 20 and 21. Kose was interviewed in
the broadcast, denouncing Tastan and Topal for `working to
Christianize Turkish Muslims en masse.'
In his statements at Monday's hearing, Kerincsiz reportedly accused
Tastan's church of breaking the law by collecting offerings and
tithes from the congregation. The attorney insisted that Turkish law
required all domestic institutions to obtain permission from their
local civil authorities to collect funds.
`Every mosque in Turkey has an offering box for the donations of the
faithful,' Topal commented to Compass. `So don't we Christian
citizens have that same right ?'
When Kerincsiz exited the courthouse front entrance after the
55-minute hearing, he refused to speak with either Compass or the
Turkish media, simply repeating the date of the next hearing, April
18.
In the wake of considerable international media on the case, the
European Commission and various officials within the European
Parliament have sent inquiries to the Turkish Ministry of Justice and
other government bodies, requesting judicial developments on the
charges against the two Christians.
Ever since the case was filed against them, Tastan told Compass
yesterday, he has been made aware that his e-mails, telephone calls,
home and even movements in the area have been under constant
surveillance.
`The day after I visit anyone, whether it's a relative or some
acquaintance in another town, the secret police come around and
question them about my visit,' Tastan said. `Am I considered a
terrorist, that I warrant such attention ?'
`We don't know what the results of this trial will be,' Tastan said.
`But God knows. And I think that the judge understood on Monday that
the people accusing us are not telling the truth.'
http://www.spcm.org/Journal/spip.php?arti cle6165
Jan 31 2007
Turkish Police Clamp Strict Security on Christians' Trial
Measures follow murder of Armenian journalist ; defense lawyer smells
conspiracy plot.
by Barbara G. Baker
ISTANBUL, January 31 - Strict security controls surrounded the second
court hearing for two Turkish Christians facing criminal charges for
insulting Turkish identity under the nation's controversial Article
301.
Police had thrown cordons around the Silivri courthouse and main
streets into the town hours before Hakan Tastan and Turan Topal
arrived from Istanbul with their lawyer for the 2 p.m. trial on
Monday (January 29).
Heightened police protection for the two Christians and their lawyer
was attributed to the shocking assassination 10 days earlier of
another Turkish Christian, prominent Armenian journalist Hrant Dink,
murdered in Istanbul by a teenage nationalist.
Editor of the weekly Agos newspaper, Dink had drawn the wrath of
Turkish nationalists after his trial and conviction last year under
Article 301, the same restrictive law against freedom of speech under
which Tastan and Topal are charged.
Uniformed police officers met the defendants' car as it approached
the center of Silivri, a town 45 miles west of Istanbul . Authorities
were already questioning and thoroughly searching everyone entering
the courthouse, refusing admittance to onlookers or members of the
press.
Meanwhile, small groups of young men could be seen idling around the
streets adjoining the court building, eyeing the entrance and all
passersby.
But police spirited the defendants in and out of the back door of the
courthouse, preventing tensions like those aroused by nationalist
demonstrators at the first hearing in November. In doing so, they
also frustrated a mob of journalists and photographers lying in wait
for the court participants at the front steps of the courthouse.
As soon as the hearing concluded, the Christians and their lawyer
were immediately escorted out of town. When onlookers spotted them
leaving the courthouse grounds, one police officer climbed in their
car until they left the city limits under police car escort and
approached the main highway.
`Of course, they provided us with very serious protection,' defense
lawyer Haydar Polat told Compass afterwards. `But at the same time
this created a lot of apprehension for my clients, with police
climbing into our car, taking photographs of our license plate, etc.'
The two Christians, who are both converts from Islam, are also
accused under less-known penal statutes of reviling Islam (Article
216) and secretly compiling private data on Turkish citizens for a
Bible correspondence course (Article 135).
At their January 29 hearing, the presiding judge again closed his
court to all observers, with only the defendants and their lawyer
present for the defense. They faced seven prosecuting lawyers led by
ultranationalist attorney Kemal Kerincsiz, notorious in Turkey for
having hounded the outspoken Dink with multiple charges under Article
301.
Contradictory Testimony
Fatih Kose, 23, the only adult among the three accusers, took the
witness stand for the first time in the case. In his testimony, Kose
reportedly admitted that he had visited Tastan's church in Istanbul
several times of his own free will.
While reiterating his written accusations, Kose contradicted himself
several times as to where and when he had heard specific `illegal'
statements, and from which of the two defendants. `His testimony was
very contradictory,' Polat said, `and this kept angering the judge,
who really chewed him out over many of his statements.'
When Polat asked the court whether Kose was a member of any known
political group in Silivri, Kerincsiz reportedly shook his fists at
Polat, objecting so vehemently to the question that the judge ordered
him to stop `making a show.'
Kerincsiz further embarrassed himself when the judge demanded to know
why he had not produced the two teenager accusers in court. The
lawyer's explanation that the two boys had not gotten permission to
be absent from school that day fell flat with the judge, who dryly
reminded Kerincsiz that all the nation's schools had closed three
days earlier for their annual winter recess.
A 16-minute video submitted by the prosecution at the first hearing
as evidence against the defendants proved to have been filmed at a
distance, with no sound track of anyone's voices to corroborate the
accusers' claims. Tastan and Topal had been filmed secretly while
conversing in a tea garden in Silivri with several youths.
The prosecution then submitted another video, said to have been
filmed secretly in Tastan's church during a communion service, to be
examined before the next hearing for alleged insults against
Turkishness or Islam uttered by the defendants.
`This was exactly a plot, a conspiracy,' lawyer Polat said, after
hearing Kose's testimony in court. `The youths asked for Bibles, for
brochures, they go of their own accord to church - and then they come
and complain !'
Setting the next hearing for April 18, the judge ordered police
escorts to ensure that all three complainants were brought, `by force
if necessary,' to testify. The underage plaintiffs have been
identified by their first names as Alper, 16, and Oguz, 17.
Gendarme Ordered to Testify
The judge also issued a summons for an official witness to testify
from the regional gendarme headquarters, which initiated a raid last
October on Tastan's home and the defendants' Istanbul office,
allegedly searching for weapons.
In addition, the court requested a copy of news footage aired on
Turkey 's ATV channel on November 20 and 21. Kose was interviewed in
the broadcast, denouncing Tastan and Topal for `working to
Christianize Turkish Muslims en masse.'
In his statements at Monday's hearing, Kerincsiz reportedly accused
Tastan's church of breaking the law by collecting offerings and
tithes from the congregation. The attorney insisted that Turkish law
required all domestic institutions to obtain permission from their
local civil authorities to collect funds.
`Every mosque in Turkey has an offering box for the donations of the
faithful,' Topal commented to Compass. `So don't we Christian
citizens have that same right ?'
When Kerincsiz exited the courthouse front entrance after the
55-minute hearing, he refused to speak with either Compass or the
Turkish media, simply repeating the date of the next hearing, April
18.
In the wake of considerable international media on the case, the
European Commission and various officials within the European
Parliament have sent inquiries to the Turkish Ministry of Justice and
other government bodies, requesting judicial developments on the
charges against the two Christians.
Ever since the case was filed against them, Tastan told Compass
yesterday, he has been made aware that his e-mails, telephone calls,
home and even movements in the area have been under constant
surveillance.
`The day after I visit anyone, whether it's a relative or some
acquaintance in another town, the secret police come around and
question them about my visit,' Tastan said. `Am I considered a
terrorist, that I warrant such attention ?'
`We don't know what the results of this trial will be,' Tastan said.
`But God knows. And I think that the judge understood on Monday that
the people accusing us are not telling the truth.'
http://www.spcm.org/Journal/spip.php?arti cle6165