The new lawsuits and the nearly completed trials forced the 13-year-old Initiative Against Thought Crime to restart its “civil disobedience” activities to draw attention to the arrangements against the freedom of expression. They announced their decision yesterday (May 5) at a press release given at Üsküdar Hall of Justice in İstanbul.
Following the press release, more than two hundred people denounced themselves by stating that they agree with the “criminal” thoughts of the individuals like the lawyer Eren Keskin, the former Democratic Society Party (DEP) deputy Mahmut Alınak, the former editor of Agos, an Armenian-Turkish weekly, Aris Nalcı, the license holder of the same newspaper Sarkis Seropyan, and the singers Bülent Ersoy and Ferhat Tunç.
Yurdatapan: Peaceful expression of a thought cannot be sued
The individuals who took part in the civil disobedience act signed a proclamation that said they knew the meaning and outcome of what they were doing and signed it with their free will. The initiative spokesperson Şanar Yurdatapan reported their crimes to Üsküdar public prosecutor’s office on behalf of the activists.
Yurdatapan explained that the civil disobedience activities of1995 are restarted, that they will continue reporting themselves to the prosecutors by becoming a party to the crimes of the people who are sued for expressing their opinions in a peaceful manner, whatever their opinions may be.
Keskin: I hope this activity will help our voice be heard
According to Keskin, “When the topic is the freedom of expression, we should look at which thoughts are banned. These are thoughts related to the Kurdish, Armenian, Cyprus and the Turban (Headscarf) problems. Everyone who thinks differently from status quo commits a thought crime. I am also one of these people. I hope this activity will help our voice be heard.”
Journalist Erol Özkoray, the artist Ferhat Tunç, the actor Mehmet Atak and some civil disobedience activists joined Keskin as well.
Keskin, Allınak, Nalcı, Seropyan, Tunç are accused, Ersoy is under investigation
Following the demand by the general staff, the lawyer Keskin was sued for her interview with the German newspaper Der Tagesspiegel on June 24, 2006, which was construed as “denigrating the Turkish Armed Forces.”
The former DEP deputy Alınak was sued for being in violation of the 1928 Law of the Acceptance and Application of Turkish Letters, according to Article 222 of the Turkish Penal Code.
The legal proceedings about Nalcı and Seropyan for “obstructing the just trial proceedings” is continuing. They are on trial for their article titled “Akıllı Tahta” (The Smart Board) that was published on the November 9, 2007 issue of Agos, in which they critiqued the decision that was reached regarding Hrant Dink’s Article 301 case.
The singer Bülent Ersoy’s words during a television program are under investigation for “alienating people from doing their military service.” The singer Ferhat Tunç is accused for “doing the propaganda of a terrorist organization”.
Civil disobedience again…
Since the beginning of the “civil disobedience” activity at the time when Yaşar Kemal, a famous writer from Turkey, was called to the State Security Court in 1995 for his article published in Der Speigel, more than eighty thousand people have taken part in the “crimes” of the others by giving signatures to seven books and forty-eight booklets. (EÖ/TB)
