Von: Sara Whyatt [m ai lto:Sara.Whyatt@internationalpen.org.uk]
Gesendet: Montag, 18. Februar 2008 14:04
An: Sara Whyatt
Betreff: TURKEY:Monthly "301" Action -19 February 2008




TURKEY: Monthly “301” Action – 19 February 2008

18 February 2008





PEN members are asked to continue the monthly action taking place on or around 19^th of each month in memory of the murdered Armenian-Turkish Editor, Hrant Dink, killed on that day in January 2007.

*Total number of writers and journalists on trial under Article 301 – 21*

The first few weeks of 2008 have seen news of the unprecedented arrests of senior officials accused of a coup plot including assassinations of writers, alongside reports that little has improved for free expression. Death threats continue ag ai nst noted writers, and trials are dragging on ag ai nst, alongside none of the promised changes to the controversial Article 301. The work of Writers In Prison Committee of International PEN (WiPC) continues. This month, PEN members are asked to send appeals on behalf of publisher Ragip Zarakolu and in protest at the death threats ag ai nst writer Perihan Magden – see below.


In this alert:

Ø The Arrest of Kemal Kerincsiz, Nationalist Lawyer Linked to Pamuk and Dink Trials – Accused of Planning Assassinations in Coup Plot
Ø 19 January 2008 – Hrant Dink Commemorated: Trial of his Killers Continues
Ø No Progress on Changes to Article 301: Trials and Threats Continue
Ø “A Sad Year for Free Speech” – Reports on 2007
Ø Take Action


The Arrest of Kemal Kerincsiz, Nationalist Lawyer Linked to Pamuk and Dink Trials – Accused of Planning Assassinations in Coup Plot
On 23 January, four days after crowds gathered outside the offices of Agos to remember its editor, Hrant Dink, assassinated at the steps of his office on 19 January 2007, came the astonishing news that 33 people had been arrested on suspicion of being members of an ultra-nationalist group known as Ergenekon who were planning a coup. In the few hours before a news blackout was enforced, the Turkish press reported that this group had planned a series of assassinations of high profile figures, including author Orhan Pamuk, Kurdish politicians including Leyla Zana and other leading figures. The newspapers also reported that police were looking into whether this group had been implicated the murders of Hrant Dink, the Catholic priest Andrea Santoro in February 2006 and Mustafa Yucel Ozbilgin a Supreme Court Magistrate in May 2006

At this time of writing 11 rem ai n in custody. Among them is Kemal Kerincsiz, a notorious nationalist lawyer who has been in the public eye since 2005 when he filed the criminal compl ai nt ag ai nst Orhan Pamuk under Article 301 that led to the author’s, eventually dropped. Kerincsiz also initiated the trial ag ai nst Hrant Dink that led to a six month suspended sentence, and a number of other similar cases ag ai nst journalists and academics. Kerincisiz trials have been characterised by heckling and violence from ultra-nationalists inside and outside the courtroom, and more sinisterly, that those who have been targeted by this lawyer and his team have found themselves threatened, and, tragically as in Hrant Dink’s case, murdered.

19 January 2008 – Hrant Dink Commemorated: Trial of his Killers Continues
On 19 January 2008, the first anniversary of Hrant Dink’s murder, several thousand people walked through the streets of Istanbul to gather outside his office and hold a moment of silent mourning. The crowd heard his widow, Rakel Dink, give a moving speech in which she stated: “Whatever may be the age of the murderers, 17 or 27, I know that they were born as babies. Without questioning the darkness that has created murderers, my brothers and sisters, there is no way forward.” Standing by her was the Indian activist and writer, Arundhati Roy, who had the previous day delivered the inaugural Hrant Dink Memorial Lecture. [Transcript av ai lable on: http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/article19219.htm ] That evening a moving memorial event of music, dance and talks was held in Dink’s honour.

Sara Whyatt, WiPC Programme Director, Eugene Schoulgin , PEN International Secretary, and Maureen Freely from English PEN were privileged to be present at these events, to have a chance to speak with Dink’s family and colleagues, to share memories of this wonderful man, and to learn of the work of individuals and organisations, both Turkish and Armenian, to ensure that Dink’s death serves as a catalyst for change.

On 8 February, the trial ag ai nst Ogün Samas, accused of Dink’s murder, and seven other suspected accomplices, continued at the 14^th Heavy Penal Court in Besiktas, Istanbul. Yasin Hayal and Erhan Tuncel, a police informer, accused of instigating the murder, were questioned. Concern has been expressed that the lawyer representing Yasin Hayal, Fuat Turgut, had been among those arrested then released in the Ergenekon case (see above).

No Progress on Changes to Article 301: Trials and Threats Continue
Despite a statement from Minister of Justice Mehmet Ali Sahin in December that amendments to Article 301 would be announced within 15 days, as of today, there have been no further developments. Some suggest that the “Ergenekon Arrests” and the debate around the lifting restrictions on wearing of the headscarf, have pushed the debate back into the shadows.

Thus the trials continue. On 31 January, Sara Whyatt spoke to publisher Ragip Zarakolu shortly after his hearing held that day under Article 301 – the 11^th since the trial opened in 2004 - for publishing a book referring to a genocide ag ai nst Armenians. Zarakolu, while relieved that he is not yet to be imprisoned, the next trial hearing is set for 8 April which is likely to be the final session at which he will learn whether he is to be convicted or acquitted.

At time of writing, the WiPC is monitoring the cases of 20 writers, journalists and publishers accused under Article 301, and 40 more under other legislations.

Far from abating, writers, journalists and publishers are suffering sometimes increased threats. One such person is author and columnist, Perihan Magden whose outspoken articles that criticise leading figures have led her to the courts in the past year, most notably for writing seen to discourage military service. Well used to threats, the situation had become untenable in early 2008 when she and another writer, Ece Temelkuran were made public targets of attack in articles published in the right wing d ai ly Halka ve Olaylar Tercüman (Interpreter of People and Events). Magden had written an article published in her newspaper Radikal on 15 January entitled “Flag of Blood” that condemned the pr ai se given to school children who had presented a flag p ai nted in their own blood to the Chief of General Staff. Temelkuran had also written at article for Milliyet, “Bloodflag, Flagblood” in which she shares the same concerns about rising nationalism. The articles in turn led to vitriolic pieces ag ai nst them in Tercüman, heightening the death threats ag ai nst them. Lawyers for the women’s newspapers are now asking for the prosecution of two Tercüman editors for endangering the writers’ lives.

[PEN representatives at the Hrant Dink memorial events also took the opportunity to meet with others who have been charged and threatened for their writings. Report to follow.]

“A Sad Year for Free Speech” – Reports on 2007
The start of a new year is the opportunity for organisations to review the past twelve months. These reports are not happy reading. The respected freedom of expression monitor BIANet referred to “A Sad Year for Free Speech” with 254 people tried, 55 of whom under Article 301 [The report includes individuals who are not writers/journalists. ed.] It speaks of threats and attacks ag ai nst journalists, compensation cl ai ms from the European Court on Human Rights totalling over 123,000 Euro, and other attacks on the media. http://www.bianet.org/english/kategori/english/104719/bia%C2%B2-2007-media-monitoring-report-%E2%80%93-full-text

Ragip Zarakolu, reporting on the year as Ch ai r of the Freedom to Publish Committee of the Turkish Publisher’s Association talks of 2007 being a negative year for free expression. Despite positive developments such as a reduction in the number of books banned, and publishers no longer to be tried for books they have published, translators of these books continue to be prosecuted and large numbers of writers and publishers are still before the courts.

Finally, a fact finding report by a coalition of UK based NGOs including the Kurdish Human Rights Project, Index on Censorship and Article 19 entitled Reform and Regression: Freedom of the Media in Turkey has recently been published. It concludes that while there are fewer assassinations than in the 1980s and 1990s, and there is greater public debate on taboo topics, there has since 2005 “been a rapid and alarming deterioration in the general human rights situation, especially with regard to freedom of expression and freedom of media”. The report cites the continuing influence of the military, retrogressive new legislation and increased self-censorship.

TAKE ACTION
PEN members are encouraged to keep abreast of events in Turkey through the general media and web-sites listed below.
Freedom of Expression Initiative - http://www.antenna-tr.org/index.asp?lgg=en

BIANet – www.bianet.org/english

Appeals
Appeals may be sent:

Ø Protesting the continuing trial ag ai nst Ragip Zarakolu and 20 others charged under Article 301.
Ø Expressing alarm at the continuing threats ag ai nst writers such as Perihan Magden and urging that there be increased measures taken to bring to justice those that threaten individuals.

Appeals to: