Trials Against Writers Raises Concerns

International PEN, expresses concerns for the prosecutions of writer Fikret Baskaya and publisher Ragip Zarakolu. The two are faced with prison sentences if found guilty. PEN notes that they will send observers to the trials on 2 March.

İstanbul

International PEN in a public statement expresses concerns for ongoing trials of writers in direct denial of their right to freedom of expression despite recent changes to Turkish laws.

What alarms PEN is trials against two of Turkey's most noted dissident writers, Fikret Baskaya and Ragip Zarakolu. PEN notes that they will be sending observers to these trials , in separate courts on 2 March 2005.

Writer and academic Baskaya is charged with "insult to the state, state institutions and the military" under Article 159/1 of the Turkish Penal Code. If convicted he faces a maximum jail sentence of three years. Publisher Zarakolu is charged with "incitement to racial hatred" under Article 312 of the Penal Code for publishing a book critical of Turkish policy on Kurdish issues. If convicted he faces a jail sentence of up to two years.

Baskaya is an eminent academic and writer. The charges against him relate to two articles written by Baskaya and published as part of a collection entitled, "Articles against the Tide". The articles were previously published in the early 1990s; one suggested that the Turkish government had approved an arson attack in the town of Sivas in which 38 people died, the other was a critique of the economic policy of Turkey's 1980 military regime.

Baskaya was from March 1994 to July 1995, imprisoned for his book, "The Bankruptcy of the Paradigm", under Article 8 of the Turkish Anti-Terror Law. In 2001, he was sentenced to 16 months in prison for an article deemed "separatist propaganda" .

Zarakolu, owner and director of Belge Publishing House, is facing trial for an article he published in daily "Ozgur Politika" in March 2003. The article, entitled "Sana Ne" ("Of No Interest"), criticised Turkey's policy towards the Kurds.

Zarakolu, too has faced a string of indictments dating back to the early 1970s under Turkey's censorship laws. The indictments have resulted in numerous fines and jail terms for both Zarakolu and his late wife Ayse Nur. In 1995, the Belge Publishing House offices were firebombedby an extremist right wing group.

IFEX calls for sending appeals to authorities: - calling for the cases against Baskaya and Zarakolu to be dropped, and an end to further such judicial proceedings - expressing concern that the trials are in breach of international standards that guarantee freedom of expression, including Article 19 of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR) and Article10 of the European Convention on Human Rights, to which Turkey is a signatory - emphasising that the government cannot be seen to undermine judicial independence. (EK/YE)