Writer Appeals Against 301 Sentence
In an article entitled "Irritating Men", which he wrote for the "Ülkede Özgür Gündem" newspaper, writer and film director Umur Hozatli criticised the police and the judiciary. The article was published on 11 November 2006.
"Because I love my country..."
Hozatli said in his defense in court: "My aim was not to insult the police force and the judiciary. The article was written in order to criticise the mistakes I have seen in the police force and the judiciary. I love my country, and because I love it, I have to criticise the mistakes I see."
"Turkish police creates terrorists"
However, the prosecutor quoted the following sentences from the article and argued that they needed to be punished:
"The Turish police force is famous for not working with a police mentality, but for trying to spread fear for their personal benefits, regardless of whether people are innocent or guilty."
"The men are bored, so they collaborate with likeminded prosecutors and judges in identifying people and groups whose ideologies they disagree with, people they find irritating, and arrest them, putting them away as terrorists, separatists and destructive people. The Turkish police, together with prosecutors and judges are working as an organisation which creates terrorists."
Hozatli had argued in his article that a survey of public opinion or informal conversations would reveal that most people complained about the police and did not trust them.
He had added that after the raids on dissident media organisations, such as the Atilim newspaper and the Özgür Radio, employees of these organisations were held on trumped up charges.
Sentenced under 301 and appeal
On 27 September, a penal court in Istanbul decreed that Hozat had "insulted the state's security forces in the press" (Article 301/2 of the Turkish Penal Code) and had first sentenced him to six months imprisonment.
This was then reduced to five months, and the sentence was converted to a fine of 20 YTL a day, which resulted in a punishment of 3,000 YTL (around 1,770 Euros).
Hozatli appealed against the decision on 2 October. (EÖ/NZ)