Sociologist Besikci on Trial Again

In another case against a writer and the print media, sociologist Ismail Besikci , known in Turkey for his enduring academic interest in Kurds and for facing both an end to his academic career and imprisonment for 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 printed", and the article was published in the monthly "Popüler Kürtür Esmer". The monthly magazine's owner Ferzende Kaya and the managing editor Mehmet Ali Izmir are also on trial.

Prosecutor Remzi Yasar Kizilhan is demanding 4 to 6 years imprisonment for the three defendants.

There has been some disagreement as to which court is in charge of the proceedings, and the penal court in Bakirköy has asked the Istanbul Chief Public Prosecutor's Office whether samples of the magazine have been delivered. The case will be continued on 10 December.

Complaint by General Staff

After a "secret" complaint by the Armed Forces' General Staff about an article entitled "Ghost" by Ahmet Kahraman (published in the magazine in December 2005) and another article by Ismail Besikci published on 19 January 2006, the Directorate of Criminal Offences of the Ministry of Justice had launched an investigation.

Because the head office of the magazine is in Istanbul, the Ankara Chief Prosecutor's Office passed the case to the Bakirköy Office in Istanbul.

Expert: No case for 301, but 216

Prof. Dr. Mehmet Emin Artuk of the Law Faculty at Marmara University, Istanbul, was used as an expert by the prosecution. He had concluded that "the rights to inform and criticise were made use of, there was not degradation of Turkishness or the armed forces, there was no harsh criticism of the army in general, just of [Chief of General Staff] Yasar Büyükanit, and there was no crime committed under Article 301". There was thus no case opened against Kahraman.

In Besikci's case, Artuk again argued that there was no case for the application of Article 301, but that "some expressions could be interpreted as 'incitement to hatred and hostility'". Thus, Besikci and the magazine representatives are on trial under Article 216.

Besikci already on trial

Sociologist Besikci was already on trial with a demand for over a hundred years imprisonment for his books (published by Yurt Publishers) and his articles concerning the Kurdish issue which had appeared in the pro-Kurdish "Özgür Gündem" newspaper. He had been released from prison with a conditional amnesty.

Besikci has already spent years in prison, and some of his books are still banned. He was released from prison on 12 July 1997 under the Conditional Amnesty Law No. 4304, which postponed sentences for previous offences if he did not repeat them in the next five years. (EÖ/EÜ/AG/EÜ)