Justice Minister: 83 People Tried under Article 301 in 3 Years

According to Minister of Justice Sadullah Ergin, throughout the past three years permission was issued for 83 prosecutions under article 301 of the Turkish Criminal Court (TCK) on "Insulting the Turkish People, Republic of Turkey and Governmental Institutions and Bodies"

Ergin referred to the amendment enforced in May 2008 which stipulated the requirement of the ministerial permission for launching trials and investigations related to article 301. The Minister announced that a total of 1,252 applications were made within the past three years until 30 April 2010 accordingly.

The Justice Minister gave a speech at the International Symposium on the topic of "Relations between the Judiciary and the Media in Contemporary Democracies". Ergin emphasized that the 83 cases also include the most recent procedures.

'Approach to freedom of speech patently obvious'

Ergin pointed out that regarding the remaining 1,042 files, 7 percent of all applications were considered. "These figures very clearly show our approach as the Ministry of Justice towards freedom of thought and freedom of expression ", he indicated.

Ergin criticized the media for overhastily declaring individuals guilty before the court has reached a decision. "Unfortunately, we see the media declaring individuals guilty before the guilt has been proven; we even see the media setting up courts on television. Even if the individual will be acquitted in the future, he or she seems to be convicted in the view of the people and this bears a negative effect to the judiciary's conclusion. Thus, a balance should be found between the benefit of informing the public and the protection of the individual's honour and dignity stemming from the presumption of innocence".

Article 301

According to the amendments enforced in May 2008, article 301 provides the following:

"(1) The person who publicly insults Turkish People, Republic of Turkey or Turkish Grand National Assembly, Government of Republic of Turkey and the judicial bodies of state is inflicted imprisonment for between six months and two years". "(2) The person who publicly insults military organizations or the police organizations of state is punished according to the first sub-clause". "(3) The declarations which aim to criticize are not evaluated as crime". "(4) Examination related to this article depends on the permission of the Minister of Justice". (EÖ/VK)