New Criminal Law Threatens Human Rights

“New Criminal Code should be certainly amended if Turkey would escape from the prospect of facing an inflation of journalists in prison,” says the Head of Turkey Journalists’ Association Orhan Erinç.

Erinç’s comments came after two meetings of the Working Group, assembled by the Ministry of Justice in 13-16 April, in order to review the Criminal Code with an eye to the criticisms that it is restrictive of freedom of press.

The Criminal Code of Turkey was amended on 12 October 2004 as a part of the legal harmonization process for Turkey’s EU accession bid. Replacing the former code after 78 years in force the new code alongside appraisals for progressive amendments was also sharply criticized for violating fundamental civil rights and freedoms.

In spite of original legislation that the New Code should go under effect on 1 April it, particularly due to Foreign Ministry’s efforts, was postponed for two months in order to reconsider loud “negative reactions by the media and the NGOs”.

However, according to reports the government was also warned by the Court of Appeals that certain high priority fraud cases would inevitably be dropped with the legal blind spots to be caused in the interim period.

Murky times ahead

The Head of the Journalists’ Association Erinç is of the opinion that the Working Group’s meetings were unfruitful particularly due to the non-compromising attitudes of the advisors from the Ministry of Justice.

Apparently the efforts for abolishing the legal notion of “crimes of thought” failed Erinç says. Yet, punishments for petty crimes such as fraud and corruption have received further reduction, he observes.

The Federation of International Journalists (FIJ) also criticizes the New Code in an April open letter to Turkish authorities that 25 articles of the Code curbs the rights and freedoms of journalists of Turkey.

Erinç points out that the advisors from the Ministry of Justice continue to ignore the importance of this matter. He underlines that modifications are required in the New Criminal Code for saving Turkey from topping the list of countries with most imprisoned journalists.

Erinç believes that the New Criminal Code is against both the rulings of the European Court of Human Rights and the 10th article of the European Convention on the Human Rights. Moreover, Erinç says that decision of the European Council Committee of Ministers on encouraging the public officials and the politicians for behaving more tolerantly towards issues regarding communications and freedom of information.

The Head of the Journalists’ Association added that they hope that Turkey will relieve itself of the concept of crimes of thought and trail along the efforts to become a European Union member by making the necessary amendments in along EU guidelines. (EÖ/TK/ASÖEK/YE)