FREEDOM OF THOUGHT

Court Ruled: Freedom of Speech Instead of Forbidden Propaganda

A Diyarbakır Court acquitted Diyarbakır Metropolitan Mayor Baydemir and decreed that his reference to the PKK as the "armed Kurdish opposition" accounts for a basic element of freedom of expression. The court emphasized that it ruled on the base of the constitution.

Erol Önderoğlu

Court Ruled: Freedom of Speech Instead of Forbidden Propaganda

The Diyarbakır Metropolitan Mayor Osman Baydemir was acquitted by the Diyarbakır 6^th High Criminal Court. Baydemir had been on trial because of referring to the militant Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK) as the "armed Kurdish opposition".

The court based its decision on the following words of former president Ahmet Necdet Sezer: "Freedom of thought and the free declaration of a person's thought may not be prosecuted because of thoughts and opinions".

"Nobody shall be accused on account of his or her thoughts"

The decision also refers to article 25 of the Turkish Constitution on freedom of thoughts and opinion: "Everyone has the right to freedom of thought and opinion. No one shall be compelled to reveal his thoughts and opinions for any reason or purpose, nor shall anyone be blamed or accused on account of his thoughts and opinions".

Mayor Baydemir had been accused for "spreading propaganda of an illegal organization" because of his announcement on the Kurdish television channel ROJ TV in 2007. He was tried un-detained in the context of article 7/2 of the Anti-Terror Law.

Also tried for glorifying crime

Baydemir is also accused of "glorifying crime" together with another 53 mayors from the pro-Kurdish Democratic Society Party (DTP) because they said they expected an announcement regarding allegations that PKK leader Abdullah Öçalan had been poisoned in prison.

According to the Turkish Criminal Code (TCK), the DTP mayors face prison sentence of up to 2 years. The case is pending before the Diyarbakır 5^th High Criminal Court. (EÖ/VK)

Origin

BIA News Center

freedom of thought Osman Baydemir

Erol Önderoğlu

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A graduate of the French Language and Literature Department at İstanbul University. He has served as the Turkey representative for the international organization Reporters Without...

A graduate of the French Language and Literature Department at İstanbul University. He has served as the Turkey representative for the international organization Reporters Without Borders (RSF), where he began as a reporter in 1996. Since 1999, he has worked at bianet, a project of the IPS Communication Foundation, as the coordinator of the Legal Support Desk, editor for freedom of expression, and editor-in-chief. He has authored more than 4,800 signed news articles and opinion pieces. He has also written for Bizim Gazete and the journal Güncel Hukuk. He currently prepares the Media Monitoring Reports at bianet.