Article 301

Page 2

Dink’s Lawyers Unable To See The “State Secret” About The Case

Dink’s Lawyers Unable To See The “State Secret” About The Case

Dink’s lawyers have objected to not being able to see the report about Erhan Tuncel’s function as an intelligence staff on the grounds that it was a “State Secret”. Witness Osman Hayal did not answer the question whether or not he was in Istanbul at the time of the murder.

13 October 2008 Erol Önderoğlu

Seventh Hearing Of Dink’s Murder Case On October 13

Seventh Hearing Of Dink’s Murder Case On October 13

Istanbul’s 14th High Criminal Court will continue hearing the witnesses in Dink’s murder case. “Hrant’s Friends” will be at Beşiktaş Square in Istanbul as before, demanding justice.

11 October 2008 Erol Önderoğlu

DTP’s Former Officers Out Of Article 301 Charge

Ministry of Justice refused to give permission for the trials of Nurettin Demirtaş and Selma Irmak, former DTP party officers, under article 301. Both individuals were on trial for voicing the allegation of chemical weapons regarding the Turkish Armed Forces.

16 September 2008

Writer And Journalist Ahmet Altan Charged With Insulting Turkish Nation

Writer And Journalist Ahmet Altan Charged With Insulting Turkish Nation

Although the Ministry of Justice stops some of the article 301 cases, it still gives many permissions for trial under this article. Writer and journalist Ahmet Altan may become the next victim for insulting the Turkish nation.

12 September 2008 Erol Önderoğlu

Ministry Of Justice Gives Permission For Trial Of Writer Demirer Under Article 301

Ministry Of Justice Gives Permission For Trial Of Writer Demirer Under Article 301

Ministry of Justice gives permission for the trial of writer Temel Demirer under article 301 for saying there was genocide of Armenians in Turkey at a meeting to protest the murder of Hrant Dink on January

9 September 2008 Erol Önderoğlu

Writer Murat Coşkun Arrested For His Book

Writer Murat Coşkun has been arrested for the book he wrote seven years ago. He is accused of having used expressions that provokes hostility and hatred among people.

5 September 2008 Erol Önderoğlu

Police Investigates Osman Hayal 19 Months After Dink’s Murder

Police Investigates Osman Hayal 19 Months After Dink’s Murder

It has been suspected all along that Ogün Smast, Hrant Dink’s killer, was not alone at the scene on the day of the murder. Now the police is considering the possibility that Osman Hayal, Yasin Hayal’s brother, may have accompanied Ogün Samast on that day.

Osman Hayal, Instigator’s Brother In Dink’s Murder, Is In Custody

Osman Hayal, brother of the alleged instigator in Dink’s murder, has been taken into custody, even though he had claimed before that he was not in İstanbul on the day of the murder, but in Trabzon.

Ogün Samast Was With Two Other People When He Killed Hrant Dink

Ogün Samast Was With Two Other People When He Killed Hrant Dink

According to a telephone communication revealed by the Ergenekon investigation, there were two more individuals with Ogün Samast when he killed Hrant Dink and Yasin Hayal, the instigator of the murder, was a member of the Great Union Party at the time.

Lawyers Reject Negligence Accusation In Hrant Dink Murder Case

Lawyers of the Dink family in Hrant Dink’s murder case insist that not only Colonel Ali Öz, Captain Metin Yıldız and four other gendarmerie officials from Trabzon Gendarmerie, but all of the officials who could not prevent te murder should be prosecuted.

22 July 2008 Erol Önderoğlu

Istanbul Police Chief Cerrah: The Untouchable Of Hrant Dink Murder Case

Istanbul Police Chief Cerrah: The Untouchable Of Hrant Dink Murder Case

Istanbul Regional Administrative Court decided there was no need to investigate Chief of Istanbul Police Department Celalettin Cerrah and his subordinates for their role in Hrant Dink’s role.

22 July 2008 Erol Önderoğlu

Colonel Ali Öz’s Testimony: Total Amnesia

Colonel Ali Öz’s Testimony: Total Amnesia

Colonel Ali Öz, the key figure in Hrant Dink’s murder case, who is accused of not taking seriously the intelligence reports about Dink’s assassination, does not remember anything.

21 July 2008 Erol Önderoğlu

Parliamentary Committee For Dink’s Murder Still To Complete Its Report

Mehmet Ocaktan, head of the subcommittee to investigate Hrant Dink’s murder, announced that contrary to the news in the media, subcommittee’s report about the case was not completed yet.

Justice Ministry Refuses Article 301 Case

Justice Ministry refused the trial of journalist İbrahim Tığ under article301, who had criticized government’s privatization program and called it an act of treason.

10 July 2008 Erol Önderoğlu

General Staff Takes Journalist Dilipak To The Court

The General Staff files a complaint about journalist Abdurrahman Dilipak for denigrating the Armed Forces using article 301.

3 July 2008 Erol Önderoğlu

Finally O.S. Is Eighteen, Dink’s Trial Will Be Open To The Media

Since the accused O.S. in Dink’s murder trial will be eighteen in the next hearing, the trial will be open to the media.

Dink’s Lawyer Say Trabzon Is In Big Danger

Dink’s lawyer Cinmen said that if the gendarmerie officials did not even know Hrant Dink before and this murder was not their concern, then anything can happen in Trabzon.

21 June 2008 Erol Önderoğlu

Trabzon Police Knew Dink’s Murder A Year Before It Took Place

Trabzon Police Knew Dink’s Murder A Year Before It Took Place

Two more witnesses in the Gendarmerie Neglect Trial in Trabzon say that they knew the murder. One of them added that it was not their concern since it was not a terrorist act.

21 June 2008 Erol Önderoğlu

The Court Acquits The Agos Journalists

The Court Acquits The Agos Journalists

The new prosecutor in the Agos case says that the court verdicts can be critiqued as well and both Agos journalists, Aris Nalcı and Sarkis Seropyan, are acquitted.

19 June 2008 Erol Önderoğlu

Another Officer Admits They Knew Dink Would Be Murdered

After petty officers Şimşek and Şahin, who are on trial for negligence in Dink’s murder, and Aslan and Erdoğan, whose statements were taken as witnesses, Captain Yıldız also says that Colonel Öz knew about Dink’s murder.

13 June 2008 Erol Önderoğlu

Union Member Writes About Mines, Goes On Trial For 301

Union Member Writes About Mines, Goes On Trial For 301

The union member who wrote about those dieing because of the mines Turkey planted, has been on trial for the crime of denigration according to article 301. However, the court is now waiting for the permission to prosecute as stated in the recent revision of the article.

12 June 2008 Erol Önderoğlu

Freedom of Expression Panel: The Revised 301 Does Not Please Anyone

Freedom of Expression Panel: The Revised 301 Does Not Please Anyone

The Heinrich Böll Foundation organizes a panel about the freedom of expression in Turkey after the revision of article 301. Expressing different opinions, the participants agree that the revision has not pleased anyone.

Activist Eren Keskin Is Acquitted

Activist Eren Keskin was up against two trials for the same crime of “denigrating the Turkish military.” The previous one had ended in acquittal and the court decided that she could not be tried twice for the same crime.

27 May 2008 Erol Önderoğlu

Article 301 Creates Victims in Daily Life, Too

Article 301 Creates Victims in Daily Life, Too

A conversation about smoking turns into an article 301 investigation. A slogan using Bush is construed as denigrating the heads of the state.

24 May 2008 Erol Önderoğlu

Journalist Arat Dink Shares The Freedom Of Expression Award

Journalist Arat Dink and imprisoned Burmese monk U Gambira are among the winners of Index on Censorship's 2008 Freedom of Expression Awards, which pay tribute to people around the world who have made outstanding contributions to free expression.

Article 301 Remains: A Damaging Step For Freedom Of Expression

Article 301 Remains: A Damaging Step For Freedom Of Expression

The president Gül ratifies the revised 301, which now forbids denigrating the Turkish Nation rather than Turkishness. The permission to open a case will need the approval of the Ministry of Justice and the cases will be heard in the Criminal Court of Peace.

9 May 2008 Erol Önderoğlu

Parliament Passes The Revised Article 301 With 250 Votes Against 65

The Turkish Parliament passes the revised 301 with the new expressions of “Turkish Nation” and “the State of the Turkish Republic” and lowers the upper limit for imprisonment to two years.

1 May 2008 Erol Önderoğlu

Two Acquittals under Article 301 for Nokta Interview

Nokta magazine journalist Sik and security expert Sariibrahimoglu have been acquitted after facing a trial under Article 301 for an interview on the military.

3 April 2008 Erol Önderoğlu

Thousands affected by Article 301

As the European Parliament rapporteur criticises the lack of reform in the area of freedom of expression, Minister of Justice Sahin has said that 1,189 people were put on trial in the first quarter of 2007.

31 March 2008 Erol Önderoğlu

An Interview with Elif Shafak

Boyd Tonkin called her “A writer who weds the modern and the mystic,” when he interviewed her for the Independent newspaper in July 2007. On the occasion of her nomination for the Orange Prize, bianet publishes the interview.

20 March 2008 Boyd Tonkin

Elif Shafak makes long list for Orange Prize

Elif Shafak makes long list for Orange Prize

"The Bastard of Istanbul," the book which landed Turkish writer Elif Shafak in court under the controversial Article 301, has now won her a nomination for the long list of the prestigious Orange Prize.

20 March 2008 Ciar Byrne

Chief of Army: “I am Open to Criticism”

Chief of Army: “I am Open to Criticism”

Chief of General Staff Büyükanit expressed in an interview that he was open to criticism. So how come so many people are taken to court for “denigrating the armed forces”?

13 March 2008 Erol Önderoğlu

1
2
3