Turkey: Publisher Ragip Zarakolu acquitted - Writer Mehmet Guler sentenced to 15 months
Published: June 15, 2010
English PEN was pleased to learn that our Honorary Member, publisher and human rights activist Ragip Zarakolu who has been subject to harassment, trials and periods of imprisonment since the 1970s, was acquitted at a hearing on 10 June. On trial in Turkey since May 2009, Zarakolu faces a prison sentence of more than seven years for publishing the novel More difficult Decisions than Death written by N. Mehmet Güler. Both Zarakolu and Güler were accused under article 7/2 of the Anti Terror Law of "spreading propaganda" for the banned Kurdish Workers Party (PKK). At the same trial, Mehmet Güler was convicted to a fifteen month prison term. While English PEN welcomes the acquittal of Ragip Zarakolu, it is disappointed by the conviction of Mehmet Güler, an act that breaches Turkey's obligations under the International Convention on Civil and Political Rights and Article 10 of the European Convention on Human Rights. Mehmet Güler remains free as he appeals against the sentence.
Attending the trial were Eugene Schoulgin, International Secretary of International PEN, and Alexis Krikorian of the International Publisher's Association. Schoulgin commented on the conviction: "In November 2009, the prosecutor did not want to proceed with the case. In March 2010, a new prosecutor reversed that decision and decided to go ahead. It is not only Turkish legislation which needs reform. Practice also needs change and stability. Additionally, it is not only the big names attracting media attention like Elif Shafak or Orhan Pamuk, who need acquittal. The lesser-known names need acquittals too, in those freedom of expression trials."
Zarakolu, aged 62, has been fighting for freedom of expression in Turkey for over 30 years, publishing books on issues including minority and human rights.
Recommended Actions:
Please send appeals to the Turkish authorities:
- Welcoming the acquittal of Ragip Zarakolu but expressing concern that the author Mehmet Güler was sentenced to a prison term;
- Pointing out that if Güler's sentence is a violation of Turkey's commitments under both Article 19 of the International Convention on Civil and Political Rights and Article 10 of the European Convention on Human Rights
- Expressing the hope that Mehmet Güler will be granted a full acquittal following his appeal hearing;
- Urging that the Turkish government will take this opportunity to reconsider how it handles cases of freedom of expression and to review all relevant laws with a view to bringing them into accord with international human rights standards, in particular the ICCPR and European Convention on Human Rights, to which Turkey is a signatory.
Send to:
Mr Sadullah Ergin
Minister of Justice
06669 Kizilay
Ankara
Turkey
Fax: 00 90 312 419 3370
Please also send copies to the Turkish Ambassador in the UK:
His Excellency Mehmet Yiğit Alpogan
43 Belgrave Square
London
SW1X 8PA
Fax: 020 7393 0066
For further details contact Sara Whyatt at the Writers in Prison Committee London Office: Brownlow House, 50/51 High Holborn, London WC1V 6ER UK Tel: 44 (0) 20 7405 0338 Fax: 44 (0) 20 7405 0339 e-mail: wipc@internationalpen.org.uk
http://www.englishpen.org/writersinprison/bulletins/turkeypublisherragipzarakoluacquitted-writermehmetgulersentencedto15months/
Attending the trial were Eugene Schoulgin, International Secretary of International PEN, and Alexis Krikorian of the International Publisher's Association. Schoulgin commented on the conviction: "In November 2009, the prosecutor did not want to proceed with the case. In March 2010, a new prosecutor reversed that decision and decided to go ahead. It is not only Turkish legislation which needs reform. Practice also needs change and stability. Additionally, it is not only the big names attracting media attention like Elif Shafak or Orhan Pamuk, who need acquittal. The lesser-known names need acquittals too, in those freedom of expression trials."
Zarakolu, aged 62, has been fighting for freedom of expression in Turkey for over 30 years, publishing books on issues including minority and human rights.
Recommended Actions:
Please send appeals to the Turkish authorities:
- Welcoming the acquittal of Ragip Zarakolu but expressing concern that the author Mehmet Güler was sentenced to a prison term;
- Pointing out that if Güler's sentence is a violation of Turkey's commitments under both Article 19 of the International Convention on Civil and Political Rights and Article 10 of the European Convention on Human Rights
- Expressing the hope that Mehmet Güler will be granted a full acquittal following his appeal hearing;
- Urging that the Turkish government will take this opportunity to reconsider how it handles cases of freedom of expression and to review all relevant laws with a view to bringing them into accord with international human rights standards, in particular the ICCPR and European Convention on Human Rights, to which Turkey is a signatory.
Send to:
Mr Sadullah Ergin
Minister of Justice
06669 Kizilay
Ankara
Turkey
Fax: 00 90 312 419 3370
Please also send copies to the Turkish Ambassador in the UK:
His Excellency Mehmet Yiğit Alpogan
43 Belgrave Square
London
SW1X 8PA
Fax: 020 7393 0066
For further details contact Sara Whyatt at the Writers in Prison Committee London Office: Brownlow House, 50/51 High Holborn, London WC1V 6ER UK Tel: 44 (0) 20 7405 0338 Fax: 44 (0) 20 7405 0339 e-mail: wipc@internationalpen.org.uk
http://www.englishpen.org/writersinprison/bulletins/turkeypublisherragipzarakoluacquitted-writermehmetgulersentencedto15months/
more relative info :
Turkey: Publisher and human rights activist faces imprisonment
Published: June 1, 2010
Ragip Zarakolu, publisher and human rights activist, who has been subject to harassment, trials and periods of imprisonment since the 1970s, is expecting a verdict at his next trial hearing in two weeks, on 10 June 2010. On trial in Turkey since May 2009, Zarakolu faces a prison sentence of more than seven years for publishing the novel More difficult Decisions than Death written by N. Mehmet Güler. Both Zarakolu and Güler are accused under article 7/2 of the Anti Terror Law of "spreading propaganda" for the banned Kurdish Workers Party (PKK). If Zarakolu is convicted on 10 June, English PEN will consider Turkey to be in breach of its obligations under the International Convention on Civil and Political Rights and Article 10 of the European Convention on Human Rights.
Ragip Zarakolu, aged 62, has been fighting for freedom of expression in Turkey for over 30 years, publishing books on issues including minority and human rights. As one of the 50 writers chosen to represent the struggle for freedom of expression since 1960 for the International PEN Writers in Prison Committee's 50th Anniversary Campaign - Because Writers Speak Their Minds - Zarakolu's case is emblematic of the ongoing struggles many writers, publishers and freedom of expression and human rights activists in Turkey continue to face.
Background
After a military coup in 1971, Zarakolu was among large numbers of writers who were arrested. He served three years in prison for his refusal to abandon his campaign for freedom of thought, striving for an "attitude of respect for different thoughts and cultures to become widespread in Turkey." Since his writings were repeatedly banned in Turkey, Zarakolu began to turn his attention to abuses of human rights by governments in South America and elsewhere. For twenty years, between 1971 and 1991, Zarakolu was banned from travelling outside Turkey.
In 1977 Zarakolu and his wife, Ayse Nur, set up the Belge Publishing House. Since then, Zarakolu has put Turkish censorship laws to the test by translating and publishing controversial books from Armenian and Greek authors into the Turkish language. As a result, Zarakolu has been sentenced to imprisonment several times. Prior to the military coup of September 1980 Belge mostly published academic and theoretical books. After the coup, Belge started to publish a series of books written by political prisoners. Zarakolu's office was firebombed by an extremist rightist group in 1995, forcing it to be housed in a cellar. Zarakolu's staunch belief in freedom of expression, his vocal campaign against book bannings, and his persistence in publishing works that violate Turkey's repressive censorship laws have resulted in a catalogue of indictments against him.
Zarakolu founded Demokrat, a newspaper which was banned after the military coup in 1980, and was one of the 98 founders of the Human Rights Association in Turkey. For some time he chaired the Writers in Prison Committee of International PEN in Turkey and is the chairperson of the Freedom to Publish Committee of the Turkish Publishers Association.
English PEN urges the court to take into consideration Turkey' obligations under the International Convention on Civil and Political Rights and Article 10 of the European Convention on Human Rights when considering Zarakolu's case.
Recommended Actions
Please send appeals:
- Expressing concern about the continuing trial of Ragip Zarakolu;
- Pointing out that if he were to be convicted, Turkey would be in violation of its obligations both under Article 19 of the International Convention on Civil and Political Rights and Article 10 of the European Convention on Human Rights;
- Expressing the hope that Ragip Zarakolu will be granted a full acquittal;
- Urging that the Turkish government will take this opportunity to reconsider how it handles cases of freedom of expression and to review all relevant laws with a view to bringing them into accord with international human rights standards, in particular the ICCPR and European Convention on Human Rights, to which Turkey is a signatory.
Appeals to:
Mr Sadullah Ergin
Minister of Justice
06669 Kizilay
Ankara
Turkey
Fax: 00 90 312 419 3370
Please also send copies to the Turkish Ambassador in the UK:
His Excellency Mehmet Yiğit Alpogan
43 Belgrave Square
London
SW1X 8PA
Fax: 020 7393 0066
For further details contact Sara Whyatt at the Writers in Prison Committee London Office: Brownlow House, 50/51 High Holborn, London WC1V 6ER UK Tel: 44 (0) 20 7405 0338 Fax: 44 (0) 20 7405 0339 e-mail: wipc@internationalpen.org.uk
http://www.englishpen.org/writersinprison/bulletins/turkeypublisherandhumanrightsactivistfacesimprisonment/
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