Ministry of Justice applies to Court of Cassation for Nobel laureate Orhan Pamuk

* Photo: Nadire Mater - bianet

Click to read the article in Turkish

Turkey's Ministry of Justice has taken action about the investigation against Orhan Pamuk over his novel "Nights of Plague" (Veba Geceleri).

After a criminal judgeship of peace accepted the appeal against his non-prosecution, the prosecutor's office has launched a second investigation against the Nobel-winning novelist on the grounds that he allegedly "insulted Mustafa Kemal Atatürk, the founder and first President of the Republic, and the flag of Turkey, thereby provoking the public to hatred and hostility."

As reported by Habertürk, the Ministry of Justice, by the power vested in the Ministry as per the Article 309 of the Code of Criminal Procedure, has applied to the Court of Cassation and requested that the legal proceedings against Pamuk be "overturned for the sake of law".

In the justification of its application, the Ministry has noted that "the appeal of the complainant who does not have the right to lodge an appeal be rejected." If the Court of Cassation accepts the application of the Justice Ministry, the criminal case against Orhan Pamuk will be dismissed.

What happened?

The Criminal Judgeship of Peace has accepted the appeal against the decision of non-prosecution given for a criminal complaint against Orhan Pamuk, a Nobel laureate in literature, over his novel "Nights of Plague" (Veba Geceleri). With the appeal accepted by the judgeship, the prosecutor's office has once again launched an investigation against the novelist.

As reported by T24 news website, Tarcan Ülük, a lawyer from the İzmir Bar Association, applied to the İzmir Chief Public Prosecutor's Office and alleged that Orhan Pamuk, in his book "Nights of Plague", insulted Mustafa Kemal Atatürk, the founder and first President of the Republic of Turkey, and the flag of Turkey, thereby provoking the public to hatred and hostility.

Ülük also cited Orhan Pamuk's remarks to a newspaper from Switzerland in the period when he received the Nobel Prize in Literature.

While the İzmir Chief Public Prosecutor's Office launched an investigation, the file was sent to the İstanbul Chief Public Prosecutor's Office as the publishing house of the book is located in İstanbul.

In his statement at the prosecutor's office, Pamuk said that "he did not write texts implying Veteran Mustafa Kemal Atatürk in his book." Sharing details about the book's content, Pamuk did not accept the charges.

Accordingly, the prosecutor's office concluded that there was no direct insult at Atatürk in the book and the character in the book is described as a person loved by people. The file ended in non-prosecution.

Lawyer Ülük appealed against this decision.

Examining the appeal, the Criminal Judgeship of Peace on Duty has said that there are some remarks in some parts of the book that can be characterized as insulting and that Orhan Pamuk should be put on trial as part of the file in its current form. The judgeship has accepted Ülük's appeal. (KÖ/SD)