Journalist Sirin is Released

Journalist Nureddin Sirin, who was sentenced to 17.5 years in prison for "being a leader of the Tevhit-Selam organization," was released due to amendments to the Turkish Penal Code (TCK). Under the new penal code, which will go into effect in April 2005, Sirin's sentence would be reduced by half.

On the other hand, lawyer Haci Ali Ozhan for Sirin, applied to the prosecutors of the Supreme Court of Appeals and demanded that the 20 month prison sentence handed to Sirin and approved by the Supreme Court of Appeals with majority of votes is corrected.

Sirin was convicted based on article 312 of the TCK, for "inducing animosity and enmity" by writing an article titled, "Satanism or Kemalism" published in the now-closed weekly "Selam" newspaper.

Sirin has applied to the European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) in another case where he is accused of being a member of the "Hezbullah" group. He is also facing charges at the Supreme Court of Appeals in one other media trial. Sirin was sentenced to prison for the same charges after writing an article titled, "We should support the oppressed even if he/she is an atheist," published in the "Selam" newspaper.

Sirin, arrested in 1997, was at the Kandira prison.

Mehmet Kutlular, the owner of the "Yeni Asya" (New Asia) newspaper, who was sentenced to two years in prison for saying the August 1999 earthquake was "godly justice," also applied to the Supreme Court of Appeals and demanded that the decision is corrected.

The new TCK will go into effect on April 1

The new TCK, which will go into effect on April 1, 2005, a new article numbered 216 will replace the current article 312. The article, titled, "inciting animosity and enmity or insulting," will read as follows:

"An individual, who openly incites animosity and enmity among a part of the community with different social status, race, religious, or from a different sect or region, against another part of the community, will be sentenced to one to three years in prison if his behavior creates open and imminent threat to the public security." (EO/BB/EA/YE)