Court Acquits Journalists In Mehdi Zana Case

Social news editor of weekly Tempo Eniz Mazhar Tayman has been acquitted of the suit filed against him under the charge of “praising the crime and the criminal” for his interview with former Diyarbakır mayor Mehdi Zana.

The article that led to the trial was published on the August 31, 2006 issue of the periodical under the title “Mehdi Zana: ‘Doğu and Güneydoğu’ Kürdistan’dır” (The East and Southeast is Kurdistan).

The lawsuit against Zana’s “Kurdistan” word ended in acquittal

At the verdict hearing of the case on November 4, the 2nd Criminal Court of First Instance of Bakırköy (Istanbul) concurred with the prosecutor and entered its judgment of the acquittal of Zana and Tayman. 

The indictment had claimed that the interview had argued for a Turks versus Kurds viewpoint and described the eastern and southeastern Turkey as Kurdish land.

According to article 215 of the Turkish Penal Code that went into effect on June 1, 2005, anyone who openly praises an already committed crime or a person for the crime he/she committed will be punished with prison sentence of up to two years. If this crime is committed through the media then the punishment will increase.

The interview with Güçlü is at the Ministry for the article 301 permission

Journalist Tayman is also on trial under article 301 together with editor in-charge Nevin Barlas for the interview he made with Diyarbakır KURD-DER spokesperson İbrahim Güçlü. KURD-DER is an association for the protection of the cultural and historical values of the Kurdish people.

The lawsuit was filed against the journalist and Güçlü for the article titled “Ben o kimliği yırtardım” ( I would rip that identity), which appeared in the December 2, 2005 issue of the periodical. They are accused of “denigrating Turkishness and the Republic” and “moving people towards disobeying the laws” in the case that began on March 13. (EÖ/TB)