(WiPC/IFEX) – The trial against Turkish journalist Burak Bekdil, charged for an article deemed to be “insulting to the state and its institutions” started on 21 December 2001, with a second hearing scheduled for 14 February 2002. International PEN believes that the charges against Bekdil represent a direct breach of his right to freedom of […]
(WiPC/IFEX) – The trial against Turkish journalist Burak Bekdil, charged for an article deemed to be “insulting to the state and its institutions” started on 21 December 2001, with a second hearing scheduled for 14 February 2002. International PEN believes that the charges against Bekdil represent a direct breach of his right to freedom of expression, as guaranteed by the European Convention on Human Rights (Article 10).
“For a peaceful life in Turkey, goes the saying, you would need among your close relatives a doctor, a police chief, a car mechanic and, most importantly, a judge.” This is how Bekdil, a respected journalist for the English-language Turkish Daily News (TDN) opened his regular “Equilibrium” column, published in the TDN on 28 August. Entitled “Turkey’s de jure untouchables”, the article goes on to list fourteen steps for those “brave (or crazy) enough to seek justice at a Turkish court”. His advice ranges from making friends with the court clerk through to never filing a complaint against a judge. Little did he know that, a month later, he too would find himself grappling with Turkey’s “notoriously complex” legal system. (Bekdil’s article is available on request from the WIPC head office: intpen@gn.apc.org)
On 25 September, Bekdil was called to the State Prosecutor’s office to hear that he would be charged under Article 159 of the Turkish Penal Code (“insult to the state and its institutions”) for his article, carrying a maximum prison term of six years. His first trial hearing was held on 21 December, adjourned to 14 February. Bekdil remains free pending the trial decision.
Background Information
Bekdil, aged thirty-five, is an Economics graduate of the Middle East Technical University, and did his post-graduate studies at the University of Surrey, United Kingdom, on a British Council sponsorship. He has been writing his column for the TDN for ten years. Between 1996 and 1999, he was Ankara Bureau Chief for Dow Jones Newswires and in 2000, was Ankara Bureau Chief for CNBC-e television. He also writes for four western publications, including the United States weekly “Defense News”.
Recommended Action
Send appeals to authorities:
– expressing alarm that Bekdil is under threat of imprisonment and facing trial solely for the publication of his article criticising the Turkish judicial system
– pointing out that should the prosecution against Bekdil proceed, this would be in direct breach of his right to freedom of expression, as guaranteed by the European Convention on Human Rights to which Turkey is a signatory
– therefore urging that the prosecution against Bekdil be halted and that he not be imprisoned
Appeals To
Prime Minister Bulent Ecevit
Basbakanlik
Cankaya
Ankara, Turkey
Fax: + 90 312 417 0476
His Excellency Hikmet Sami Turk
Minister of Justice
Adalet Bakaligi
06440 Bakaniklar
Ankara, Turkey
Fax: + 90 312 417 3954
Please copy appeals to the source if possible.
