(WiPC/IFEX) – Author Elif Shafak was acquitted of charges of “insult” at a 21 September 2006 hearing held before Beyoglu Court of First Instance in Istanbul. International PEN is delighted by this outcome, considering the trial against Elif Shafak to have been in direct violation of her right to freedom of expression. She was charged […]
(WiPC/IFEX) – Author Elif Shafak was acquitted of charges of “insult” at a 21 September 2006 hearing held before Beyoglu Court of First Instance in Istanbul. International PEN is delighted by this outcome, considering the trial against Elif Shafak to have been in direct violation of her right to freedom of expression. She was charged with “insult” to Turkishness under article 301 of the Turkish Penal Code for comments made by fictitious characters in her best-selling novel “Baba ve Pic” (“Father and Bastard”).
Eugene Schoulgin, board member of International PEN who was present for the trial, says: “Whatever the outcome is in the trial against Shafak, it is a great concern for PEN that cases such as this continue to be opened in Turkey, contradicting the Turkish government’s stated aspiration towards an open society and true democracy”.
At least 18 other writers, publishers and journalists are on trial in Turkey on charges of “insult”, and many more under other laws that have been used to stifle legitimate comment in Turkey. For example, on 5 October, Ipek Çalislar, the author of “Latife Hanim” (“Lady Latife”), will go on trial for a biography of the first wife of Mustafa Kemal Atatürk. She could be sentenced to up to four-and-a-half years for “insult” to the memory of Atatürk, under Law 5816.
Elif Shafak tells PEN that these laws are “used as a weapon to silence people – journalists, intellectuals, publishers and editors” – by a reactionary faction within the Turkish establishment whose goal is to “curb the domain of art and literature.”
International PEN is the world association of writers representing members in over 100 countries. Its Writers in Prison Committee campaigns for the right to freedom of expression world-wide, and is currently monitoring around 900 cases of attacks against writers, journalists and publishers in countries around the globe.
