Minister of Justice Mehmet Ali Sahin has made a statement concerning Article 301, the controversial article which penalises the "denigration of Turkishness, the Republic, the State and its organs."
He has promised that changes in the article will be presented to the cabinet within the next fifteen days.
According to the NTV news, changes in the article include:
Currently, Article 301 reads:
Incidentally, the Supreme Court of Appeals has overturned the sentencing of trade unionist Mehmet Hanifi Bekmezci, arguing that his utterances were "heavy criticism".
On 29 September 2005, when president of the educational trade union Egitim-Sen in Tunceli, Bekmezci had made a statement concerning the murder of Hasan Sahin in Tunceli, as well as the murder of taxi driver Hasan Akdag by a police officer.
He claimed that the police started random arrests after the events and obstructed press statements relating to these murders: "On the command of the General Staff, civilian fascist powers were mobilised and the planned lynching attempts and attacks in several parts of our country are still fresh in our memory."
Bekmezci was then sentenced by the Tunceli Criminal Court of Peace, which cited Article 301 and sentenced him to five months in prison, later converted to a legal fine. Bekmezci's lawyer Baris Yildirim appealed, citing decisions by the European Court of Human Rights.
On 6 November 2007, the Supreme Court of Appeals overruled the local court's sentence, stating there was no crime committed. (TK/AG)