Reforms May Free Editor Ak
The Court of Cassation demanded that the amendments to article 159 of the Turkish Penal Code (TCK) are taken into account. The amendments to the TCK were part of a series of legal and constitutional amendments Turkey passed as a move towards increasing its chances of joining the European Union (EU).
The case is back at a local court
The Court of Cassation, on September 15, 2002, overturned a local court's decision to hand out Ak a fine of six million Turkish lira.
Ak is the former coordinator of the interactive department of Superonline, an Internet service provider company.
With this decision, the case was sent back to an Istanbul court. The trial will continue at this court starting on February 27, 2003.
Court of Cassation: Reforms should be taken into account
The Court of Cassation, in its notification to the local court, emphasized that there was a disagreement on editor Ak's responsibilities and authorizations at his company. The Court of Cassation asked that the local court takes into account the amendments to part (a) of the article 2 of law no: 4774, and article 159 of the TCK. A clause has been added to these laws stating that: "The written, oral or visual expressions of opinion that aim to criticize but not insult the above institutions, do not require punishment."
Second objection to the penalty
During the appeal, on March 12, 2002, an Istanbul court sentenced Ak for the second time, to 40 months in prison. The sentence was commuted to a fine of six million Turkish lira. Ak was being charged with "insulting the military and security forces of the state, and the court." Ak's lawyer Fikret Ilkiz appealed the case to the Court of Cassation's General Penal Board.
"Lawless Fault," "Faultless Punishment"
The court found that a message, sent by the nickname "A Person," included four separate violations of the TCK, and decided article 159/1 of the TCK would be applied four times. The court also announced that there was no need to look into the issues pointed out by the Court of Cassation.
Court of Cassation: Inadequate Inquiry
On March 2001, the same court had handed out the same sentence to Ak, and its decision was overturned by the Court of Cassation. The appeals court found the decision was based on "inadequate inquiry." The Court of Cassation said that the court should explore what the responsibilities of the Internet service provider, Superonline, are and to what extent it provides content.
The topic of the message was "violations in the southeast"
During an interactive discussion session on the Internet on May 26, 1999, a citizen sent a message talking about the human rights violations in the predominantly Kurdish southeast of Turkey. Ak was accused of not removing this message from the Internet site. The charges Ak faced were based on article 159 of the TCK. The 40 months of prison term handed out to Ak by a local court was overturned by the Court of Cassation. Ak was tried for the second time and was handed the same sentence.
An "informant citizen," Macit Musal, who followed the discussions on the Internet site, complained to the Justice Ministry, which led to the inquisition against Superonline.
Who is Coskun Ak?
Coskun Ak, 33, is married with a child. He served as administrative coordinator at "BILAR," a university founded by writer Aziz Nesin, and as deputy coordinator at the Independent Communication Network. (BB)