(WiPC/IFEX) – The following is a 19 December 2003 joint WiPC and International Publishers’ Association (IPA) letter to Minister of Justice Cemil Çiçek: The Minister of Justice Mr. Cemil Çiçek Ministry of Justice Adalet Bakanligi 06659 Ankara Turkey 19 December 2003 Re: The excessive levels of fines in the latest draft under discussion of Press […]
(WiPC/IFEX) – The following is a 19 December 2003 joint WiPC and International Publishers’ Association (IPA) letter to Minister of Justice Cemil Çiçek:
The Minister of Justice
Mr. Cemil Çiçek
Ministry of Justice
Adalet Bakanligi
06659 Ankara
Turkey
19 December 2003
Re: The excessive levels of fines in the latest draft under discussion of Press Law No. 4757
Dear Mr. Çiçek,
The International Publishers’ Association (IPA) and International PEN are deeply concerned about the excessive levels of fines that are recommended in the latest draft of Press Law No. 4757 (as adopted on 21 May 2002) and, therefore, call upon the Turkish authorities to delete the articles pertaining to fines or, at the very least, to lower the level of fines to a reasonable level and abolish the concept of minimum fines.
IPA, established in Paris in 1896, represents the publishing industry worldwide through 78 national, regional and specialised publishers’ associations in 66 countries. International PEN was founded in 1921 in London. It is represented worldwide through 138 centres in over 100 countries. Both organisations are accredited Non-Governmental Organisations enjoying consultative status to the United Nations and seek to promote and defend the fundamental freedoms to publish, to read and to write, defending the rights of authors and publishers to create and distribute intellectual works in complete freedom.
While IPA and PEN welcome the recent changes to Turkish legislation that have led to the improvement in the right to freedom of expression, this very same right is currently being jeopardised in Turkey by the excessive level of fines as set out in the 21 May 2002 Press Law No. 4757. In particular, Articles 4 and 20 stipulate that publishers and periodicals failing to submit updated information in terms of publishing place, publishing and printing dates, the publishing company’s, printing house’s and publishing house owner’s names and the publisher’s and printing house’s addresses to the authorities face fines as high as 50 billion Turkish Liras (30,000 Euro). In other words, a large number of newspapers, magazines, journals and publishing houses may be forced into bankruptcy and closure because of the high level of fines.
The size of the fines is disproportionate and in contradiction with the constitutional principles of freedom of the press and dissemination of thought, as guaranteed under Article 10 of the European Convention on Human Rights to which Turkey is a signatory. According to our information, a new draft of the Press Law is currently being prepared and is open for discussion. Both our organisations welcome this move forward. However, the latest draft appears to have worsened the current, and already excessive, level of fines, raising the minimum amount from 10,000 to 15,000 Euro. This would not solve the problem as expressed above. It would only make it worse. Moreover, it seems that this law will introduce regulations on the use of the Internet, which to date has been free from government interference.
Publishing houses, magazines, literary journals and newspapers already face acute financial difficulties in Turkey. Any unnecessary additional burden could potentially lead some of them into bankruptcy. At stake here are the fundamental freedoms to publish, to read and to write in Turkey. Publishers and writers play a vital part in engineering these fundamental freedoms. Should some of them go bankrupt because of an excessive level of fines, then the rights of authors and publishers to create and distribute intellectual works in complete freedom will be hindered. That is simply not acceptable to our respective constituencies, nor in relation to Turkey’s commitments under the ECHR.
In conclusion, the IPA and International PEN support their Turkish colleagues in calling upon the Turkish authorities not to raise the already excessive level of fines in Press Law No. 4757. On the contrary, because Turkey wishes to join the European Union as a full-fledged democracy permitting each and every individual to express his or her opinion freely, the IPA and International PEN sincerely hope that the articles pertaining to fines in the latest draft of the Press Law will be deleted altogether. At the very least, the level of fines should be lowered to a reasonable level and the concept of minimum fines should be abolished, thus contributing to an improved circulation of the works of the mind in Turkey.
Yours sincerely,
Lars Grahn
Chairman
IPA’s Freedom to Publish Committee
Eugene Schoulgin
Chairman
International PEN’s Writers in Prison Committee
Pere Vicens
IPA President
