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Journalist Faces Retrial For Insulting Turkishness

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  • Journalist Faces Retrial For Insulting Turkishness

    JOURNALIST FACES RETRIAL FOR INSULTING TURKISHNESS
    Tatyana Margolin

    JURIST , Univ. of Pittsburgh Law School
    May 2 2006

    [JURIST Europe] A Turkish appeals court has rejected a prosecutor's
    recommendation and has ruled that charges still stand against Hrant
    Dink, a high-profile Turkish-Armenian journalist and editor of the
    newspaper Agos [media website] who has written about the killings
    of an estimated million Ottoman Armenians [ANI backgrounder] in the
    early 20th century. Accused of publicly denigrating or insulting
    Turkishness under controversial Article 301 [Amnesty International
    backgrounder] of the Turkish Penal Code, Dink was given a six-months
    suspended sentence [JURIST report] last October, but in February the
    chief prosecutor of the Appeals Court ruled that his remarks were in
    no way offensive. The new court determination sends the case back to
    the local court where it may be reheard.

    Article 301 reads: 1. Public denigration of Turkishness, the Republic
    or the Grand National Assembly of Turkey shall be punishable by
    imprisonment of between six months and three years.

    2. Public denigration of the Government of the Republic of Turkey,
    the judicial institutions of the State, the military or security
    structures shall be punishable by imprisonment of between six months
    and two years.

    3. In cases where denigration of Turkishness is committed by a
    Turkish citizen in another country the punishment shall be increased
    by one third.

    4. Expressions of thought intended to criticize shall not constitute
    a crime.

    Dink's case, along with several others [JURIST news archive; JURIST
    report] that deal with freedom of speech in Turkey, is being closely
    monitored by the EU. Turkey is eager to join the EU and has committed
    to a series of reforms, yet speech that can be interpreted as an
    insult to the Turkish identity, the military and the judiciary is still
    illegal. BBC News has more. From Istanbul, Hurriyet has local coverage.

    Tatyana Margolin is an Associate Editor for JURIST Europe, reporting
    European legal news from a European perspective. She is based in
    the UK.

    http://jurist.law.pitt.edu/paperchase/2006/05 /journalist-faces-retrial-for-insulting.php

    From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress
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