IPS Communication Foundation – Bianet

Articles by IPS Communication Foundation – Bianet

Link to: Human rights activist receives one-year prison sentence for speaking of “Kurdistan”, faces other legal actions over speeches and interviews

Human rights activist receives one-year prison sentence for speaking of “Kurdistan”, faces other legal actions over speeches and interviews

(BIANET/IFEX) – Human rights activist and lawyer Eren Keskin has received a one-year sentence for saying “Turkey has a dirty history” and using the term “Kurdistan”. Keskin, who is also a former president of the Istanbul branch of the Human Rights Association (IHD), faces 13 trials and two investigations for various speeches, articles and interviews. […]

Link to: Filtering company briefly blocks BIANET’s website; other political news sites still blocked

Filtering company briefly blocks BIANET’s website; other political news sites still blocked

(BIANET/IFEX) – A software company in Turkey recently blocked the BIANET website, http://www.bianet.com , acting not on a court order but instead from a list of “forbidden websites” allegedly based on a police list. The discovery was made following readers’ complaints of not being able to access the BIANET website. BIANET is concerned that a […]

Link to: Writer, publisher, and bookstore owner win free expression awards from publishers’ union; 43 books on trial in 2006

Writer, publisher, and bookstore owner win free expression awards from publishers’ union; 43 books on trial in 2006

(BIANET/IFEX) – The following is a 29 June 2007 BIANET press release: Freedom of Expression a Must The Turkey Publishers’ Union (TYB) awards Freedom of Thought and Expression Prizes annually, always hoping that there will not be any need for these kinds of prizes in the future. This year, on 28 June, awards were given […]

Link to: ECHR orders government to compensate prisoner for violating his right to communication

ECHR orders government to compensate prisoner for violating his right to communication

(BIANET/IFEX) – In a 3 July 2007 ruling, the European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) sentenced the Turkish government to paying 1,000 euros in compensation and legal expenses to prisoner Erdal Tan for having violated his right to communication. Tan had sent a letter to “Radikal” newspaper, describing the degrading conditions in the notorious F-type […]

Link to: Historian takes Article 301 to ECHR to protest threat to academic research

Historian takes Article 301 to ECHR to protest threat to academic research

(BIANET/IFEX) – Taner Akcam, a professor of history at Minnesota University, in the United States, who had been investigated for his claims of an Armenian genocide, has decided to take Article 301, which has put around 100 academics, journalists and writers on trial, to the European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) to protest against the […]

Link to: Various journalists, writers and publishers charged under article 301 over various publications

Various journalists, writers and publishers charged under article 301 over various publications

(BIANET/IFEX) – Since article 301 of the Turkish Penal Code was ratified, around 100 writers, journalists and academics have been tried under it. The authorities look set to continue using the law to target those who discuss controversial topics. Although there was a plan to review the law, the government has now accused non-governmental organisations […]

Link to: Journalist to be tried for “degrading state”

Journalist to be tried for “degrading state”

(BIANET/IFEX) – A case in the district town of Gerger, in the province of Adiyaman, southeast of Turkey, illustrates how the Turkish government has been indecisive and contradictory in dealing with freedom of expression. Public Prosecutor Sadullah Ovacikli dismissed a case against journalist Haci Bogatekin, who wrote an article about a flea epidemic, in which […]

Link to: Sociologist, magazine owner and editor face possible imprisonment over article; writer escapes charge despite army’s complaint

Sociologist, magazine owner and editor face possible imprisonment over article; writer escapes charge despite army’s complaint

(BIANET/IFEX) – Sociologist Ismail Besikci, known in Turkey for his enduring academic interest in the Kurds and for facing both an end to his academic career and imprisonment over his books, is on trial under Article 216 of the Turkish Penal Code. Besikci had written an article entitled “We did not talk, we had it […]