Sel Publishing Acquitted of "Obscenity" Charges

Publisher İrfan Sancı and interpreter İsmail Yerguz were acquitted by the Istanbul 2^nd Criminal Court of First Instance. They stood trial on charges of "obscenity in their publications" based on three books of the "Sexual books" series published by Sel Publishing.

The court had requested the opinion of the Prime Ministerial Board for the Protection of Children from Harmful Publications despite a report previously obtained from Galatasaray University attesting that the books were "works of literature that could not be interfered against".

On 25 May, the court had obtained the academic expert report on the three works entitled "The exploits of a young Don Juan" by Guillaume Apollinaire, "Letters of a Well-Mannered and Knowledgeable Bourgeois Woman" by the French writer P.V. and Ben Mila's "The Fairy's Pendulum". It read that the books feature literature and would not constitute the basis for a conviction.

At the final hearing on Tuesday (7 December), the court acquitted Sancı and Yerguz according to Article 226/7 of the Turkish Criminal Court stipulating that "provided that access to children is prevented, the provisions of this Article shall not apply to scientific, artistic and literary works". The court went along with the opinon explained in the folder of the Prime Ministerial Board that "the people's sense of shame and modesty were harmed".

IPA: Decision should assist freedom of speech

The International Publishers Association (IPA) assessed the decision as "satisfactory". IPA said that this decision should help to create a positive environment in terms of freedom of expression in Turkey.

Sancı: Will they insist any further?

It is not known yet whether the Public Prosecutor, who demanded the punishment of both defendants, will appeal the decision.

Sancı told bianet, "We were accused of publishing works that harmed the public's sense of shame. We tried to reverse this. Eventually, we were acquitted. The trial has finished as far as we are concerned. However, we do not know how to what extent they might insist".

Sancı said he was sad that the case had to come to this point since the European Court of Human Rights had previously convicted Turkey of a violation of freedom of expression in the case of a similar book.

The hearing was observed by representatives of the Turkish Publishers Association and the Professional Translators Association (Çevbir) and Andreas Heger as a member of the Freedom for Publishers Committee of the International Publishers Association.

In November this year, İrfan Sancı was awarded with this year's special Prize for Freedom of Publication bestowed by IPA. (EÖ/VK)