Journalist Guilty of Insulting Turkishness

Hrant Dink, who was charged with "insulting Turkishness" in an article on Armenian identity published in the weekly newspaper Agos, has been sentenced to a 6-month term in prison, but the penalty has been suspended.

Dink was also one of the organizers of the conference on Ottoman Armenians that was recently held in Istanbul. The newspaper's general coordinator Karin Karakasli, who was charged along with Dink, was acquitted on the grounds that she was exempt under a provision of the Press Law. The journalists' lawyer, Fetiye Cetin, told Bianet that they are appealing the court's decision.

The decision hearing took place today (7 October 2005) at the Second Criminal Court in Sisli, and was attended by the journalists, their lawyers, and other supporters. The prosecutor, Muhittin Ayata, argued that Dink's article had been written with the intent to criticize and humiliate Turkish national identity. The court suspended the sentence on the grounds that Dink had no previous convictions and on the condition that he does not repeat the offense.

The suit was filed against Dink and Karakasli on 16 April 2004 for a series of articles starting in February 2004 that criticized diaspora Armenians for focusing on the history of Turkish crimes against Armenians and not doing enough for the needs of Armenians in the present. Reporters Without Borders, PEN International, and other civil society groups have criticized the lawsuit. (EO/EA)