PEN-IPA: Draft Press Law Contradicts EU Norms
Undersigned by Lars Grahn, IPA's Freedom to Publish Committee Chairman, Eugene Schoulgin, International PENs Writers in Prison Committee Chairman and Pere Vicens
IPA President the joint letter particularly point to the fact that a large number of newspapers, magazines, journals and publishing houses may be forced into bankruptcy and closure because of the high level of fines.
Excerpts from the letter read:
The International Publishers' Association (IPA) and International PEN are deeply concerned about the excessive levels of fines that are recommended in the latest draft of Press Law No. 4757 (as adopted on 21 May 2002) and, therefore, call upon the Turkish authorities to delete the articles pertaining to fines or, at the very least, to lower the level of fines to a reasonable level and abolish the concept of minimum fines.
While IPA and PEN welcome the recent changes to Turkish legislation that have led to the improvement in the right to freedom of expression, this very same right is currently being jeopardised in Turkey by the excessive level of fines as set out in 21 May 2002 Press Law No. 4757. In particular, Articles 4 and 20 stipulate that publishers and periodicals failing to submit updated information in terms of publishing place, publishing and printing dates, publishing companys, printing houses and publishing house owners names, publishers and printing houses addresses to the authorities face fines as high as 50 billion Turkish Liras (30, 000 Euro). In other words, a large number of newspapers, magazines, journals and publishing houses may be forced into bankruptcy and closure because of the high level of fines.
The size of the fines is disproportionate and in contradiction with the constitutional principles of freedom of the press and dissemination of thought, as guaranteed under Article 10 of the European Convention on Human Rights to which Turkey is a signatory. According to our information, a new draft of the Press Law is currently being prepared and is opened for discussion. Both our organisations welcome this move forward. However, the latest draft appears to have worsened the current, and already excessive, level of fines, raising the minimum amount from 10000 to 15000 Euro. This would not solve the problem as expressed above. It would only make it worse. Moreover, it seems that this law will introduce regulations on the use of the Internet, which to date has been free from government interference.
Publishing houses, magazines, literary journals and newspapers already face acute financial difficulties in Turkey. Any unnecessary additional burden could potentially lead some of them into bankruptcy. At stake here are the fundamental freedoms to publish, to read and to write in Turkey. Publishers and writers play a vital part in engineering these fundamental freedoms. Should some of them go bankrupt because of an excessive level of fines, then the rights of authors and publishers to create and distribute intellectual works in complete freedom get hindered. That is simply not acceptable to our respective constituencies, nor in relation to Turkeys commitments under the ECHR.
In conclusion, the IPA and International PEN support their Turkish colleagues in calling upon the Turkish authorities not to raise the already excessive level of fines in Press Law No. 4757. On the contrary, because Turkey wishes to join the European Union as a full-fledged democracy permitting each and every individual to express his or her opinion freely, the IPA and International PEN sincerely hope that the articles pertaining to fines in the latest draft of the Press Law will be deleted altogether. At the very least, the level of fines should be lowered to a reasonable level and the concept of minimum fines should be abolished, thus contributing to an improved circulation of the works of the mind in Turkey. (EK)