The Heinrich Böll Stiftung Foundation organized a panel in Taksim Hill Otel on June 6 to discuss the situation with the freedom of expression after the passing of the revised article 301 by the Parliament on April 29.
The title of the panel was “Are we closer to the freedom of expression with the 301 revision?” and was in two sessions.
There was consensus among the opinions presented at the panel that article 301, which has caused serious problems so far, should be removed.
Yurdatapan: The State cannot use 301 against its citizens
German ambassador Dr. Echart Cuntz and Gönenç Gürkaynak gave the presentations of “AB ve Almanya bakışıyla 301 reformu” (The 301 reform from the perspective of the EU and Germany) and “Anglo-Amerikan Hukuku ve 301. madde” (The Anglo-American Law and article 301), respectively, in the panel where the infamous article and the other legal regulations that restrict the freedom of expression were discussed.
Şanar Yurdatapan, the spokesperson of the Initiative Against Thought Crime, who has been concentrating on civil disobedience activities recently, said that article 301 should have already been removed, as it was against democratic principles for a state to threaten its own citizens, to whom it is obligated to serve, with prison sentence for the words they said.
Uygun: It is not realistic to expect the removal of 301
Prof. Dr. Oktay Uygun of Law Department at İstanbul University stated that the judiciary was protected by the laws in Europe as well, and that this was normal to an extent. He recommended keeping the expression “publicly denigrating the judiciary” and lifting the protection on the other institutions. Uygun said “it is not realistic to expect the government remove 301.”
İlkiz: I am against the permission form the Ministry of Justice
Fikret İlkiz, the lawyer for İletişim Publications, indicated that although the Ministry of Justice stated in its circular dated to May 9, 2008 and registered under the number 18/1 that it required from the prosecutors who start 301 investigations to state their legal ground, the same ministry presented its decisions to those who asked for a trial permission without offering any legal ground in the past. He said this should stop.
İlkiz also added that “”I do not want the Ministry of Interior to give permission in a case in which I am on trial for the freedom of expression. Turkey must quit having a democracy discussion at every case that is opened.”
Önderoğlu: There are 301’s in the East
Erol Önderoğlu, the Bianet editor for the freedom of expression news, says that there are many regulations in the Turkish Penal Code (TCK) that cause problems such as article 125 for “insulting”, 220/8 for “making propaganda of an organization and its purpose”, article 257/1 for “misconduct in office”, article 222 for those who use Kurdish letters and speak Kurdish, article 288 for “attempting to influence a fair trial”, article 299 for “insulting the president”, and article 318 for “alienating people from military service”.
Önderoğlu says that these articles are used more often in eastern and southeastern Turkey. He also points out to the law suits against the caricaturists, the publication bans, the banning of books and internet sites such as youttube.com.
Cıngı: Social transformation is needed
Aydın Cıngı, the head of the Social Democracy Foundation (SODEV), stated that according to public opinion surveys such as Konda and ISSP, the Turkish people are not comfortable with foreigners buying land in Turkey, believe that “Turks have no friends other than Turks”, think that the reforms demanded by the EU are the continuation of the Sevres Treaty of 1920, which had announced the fragmentation and end of the Ottoman Empire after the First World of War, and therefore it was necessary first to transform the society before the removal of articles like 301. (EÖ/EZÖ/TB)
