Activists Protest against Undemocratic Court Cases

 The Turkish Initiative against Crimes of Thought has drawn attention to court cases which are incongruous with the European Convention on Human Rights, which Turkey signed in 1989.

"As the line between what is criminal and what is not, moves very close to the line between what is liked and not liked, let us remember the European Court of Human Rights’ (ECHR) case law in the Handyside case.

Turkey accepted the jurisdiction of ECHR in 1989, and article 90/5 of Turkish Constitution accepts the European Convention of Human Rights (EHRC) as an upper norm/domestic law.

The European Court’s decision in the Handyside case was based on the EHRC. The European Court stated: 'Freedom of expression constitutes one of the essential foundations of society, one of the basic conditions for its progress and for the development of every man. This right is applicable not only to ‘information’ or ‘ideas’ that are favourably received or regarded as inoffensive or as a matter of indifference, but also to those that offend, shock or disturb the State or any sector of the population'.

These are the demands of pluralism, tolerance and broadmindedness without which there is no democratic society."

Antenna-TR has pointed to recent court cases which show that there is still need for more democracy in Turkey:

"1. Accused : Mehmet Pamak, Yusuf Tanriverdi

Court and Date of Hearing : Ankara 3th Criminal Court of First Instance, 23 October 2007 at 11:00 am

Introduction : The Foundations Headquarters opened a case against ILKAV (Foundation of Scientific and Cultural Research) to close it down and also filed complaints against the speakers over the speeches of Mehmet Pamak and Yusuf Tanrıverdi at a panel discussion “Education System and Religion Classes in Official Ideology” organised by İLKAV on 03 December 2006. The Minister of State in charge of Foundations, M. Ali Şahin ordered Foundations Headquarters to act. A case has been opened against the two speakers with the charge of "insulting the Republic and the military organisation of the state".

2. Accused : Ahmet Sik, Lale Sariibrahimoglu

Court and Date of Hearing : Bakırköy 2nd Criminal Court of First Instance, 24 October 2007 at 09:55 am

Introduction: The case is against journalist Ahmet Sik of Nokta magazine over an interview he conducted with a security expert Lale Sarıibrahimoglu, published on 8 February. Both are charged under Article 301 of the Turkish Penal Code.

3.Accused : Aydin Budak

Court and Date of Hearing : Cizre Criminal Court of First Instance, 25 October 2007 at 09:00 am

Introduction : Cizre mayor Aydin Budak stands trial over a speech he made at Newroz celebrations with the charge of “inciting hatred and hostility among the people” and “praising a crime and a criminal”. The Cizre prosecution office’s indictment argued that Budak said “Hello Imralı [The prison where PKK leader Abdullah Öcalan is being held], Happy Newroz”. The indictment also noted that after an examination of the whole sppech text, considering Budak´s position and the crowd he addressed, it was not possible to consider his speech in the limits of freedom of expression." (IFEX/Antenna-TR/AG)

Note: See http://www.antenna-tr.org/dunya/first_page_en.asp for this month’s cases on freedom of expression and other statistics.