IPS Communication Foundation – Bianet

Several writers, publishers and translators from French publishing industry unions have urged for the acquittal of Sel Publishing House’s editor-in-chief and translator, who are facing prison sentences for publishing “The Exploits of a Young Don Juan” in Turkey.

In the past three weeks, the European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) has convicted Turkey of violating freedom of expression in three separate cases, including the conviction of a man for giving a speech, and the persecution of nineteen petition signatories.

The European Court of Human Rights found Turkey guilty of violating freedom of expression for issuing an injunction on an article by Cumhuriyet newspaper in 2007.

There is a growing sense that in the wake of the Gezi Park protests, things are looking as bleak as ever for the Turkish press, under siege from both direct and indirect governmental pressure, writes Alev Yaman.

Demonstrations in solidarity with the Taksim Gezi Park protests have spread to major cities in Turkey, including Ankara, İzmir, Eskişehir, İzmit and Bursa, where journalists and demonstrators have been detained and injured.

An Istanbul court convicted Turkist pianist Fazil Say of blasphemy over his Tweets, ordering him to serve 10 months in prison; the sentence was later suspended.

Associations representing Turkey’s educational, writing and film-making unions organized a panel on 7 March to discuss government censorship of literature, including Oscar Wilde’s The Happy Prince and John Steinback’s Of Mice and Men.

An Istanbul court has sentenced sociologist Pinar Selek to life in prison for her alleged involvement in the 1998 Spice Bazaar explosion, a case that has been reopened three times in 14 years.