Six to Stand Trial on 301 This Year

There has been an increase recently in the number of people charged under Article 301. Article 305, which was passed to try those who accept the Armenian genocide, has not been used at all yet. Those who have been prosecuted for participating in discussions about the Armenian genocide have all been charged under Article 301.

In addition to Akay, writer Orhan Pamuk, Ersen Korkmaz, the owner of the "Democratic Iskenderun" newspaper, publisher Ragip Zarakolu, writer Zulkuf Kisanak, and singer Ferhat Tunc will stand trial by the end of this year in cases based on Article 301.

Prosecutor : Article 301 should be implemented twice

Akay faces prison for an article he compiled and sent to the magazine, called "1915-2005... 90 Years. It is time to face history. Is it Oblivion, it is Denial?" Prosecutor Bilgin Uysal asked the court to implement article 301 twice in Akay's trial. Akay faces up to six years in prison if found guilty. His lawyer Cahit Ozkan will explain his opinions on the file in the next hearing.

Article criticizes "Denial" of genocide

Part of the article published in April 2005, reads: "(...) the Armenians, who were murdered from the end of 1919 till mid-1922, were directly murdered by the Anatolia government. The Ankara government took over the genocide, which began in 1915, and continued with it... The policy of denial and reversing the phenomena by the Turkish Republic is not enough to do away with the genocide reality..."

Aziz Ozer, the owner and editor-in-chief of the magazine, told the court he "read the article, which came through the electronic mail, and published it as a criticism."

The trial, opened by Republic Prosecutor Nurten Altinok on July 7, does not involve charges against Ozer, since the author of the article is known. (EO/EA/YE)