The Prosecutor of Erzincan (north-eastern Anatolia), Osman Şanal, litigates Cumhuriyet newspaper reporter İlhan Taşçı over his freshly published book "Justice in a gown" ('Cüppeli Adalet'). He filed a compensation claim against the journalist on the grounds of the book cover which features a man with a green cap and a characteristic beard in a prosecutor's gown. His complaint is based on an alleged resemblance of that person with himself and on "interjections" used in several sentences.
The Cumhuriyet daily announced that the person featured on the cover is not real but was virtually created by designer Ahmet Sungur. The nation-wide paper criticized the trial.
Taşçı is facing a monetary fine of up to TL 15,000 (€7,500) in compensation. In his book, he tried to reveal what was happening behind the scenes of the investigation into the İsmailağa congregation which eventually lead to the arrest of İlhan Cihaner, then Public Prosecutor of Erzincan.
Trial scheduled for 27 January 2011
The first hearing of the trial against Taşçı is scheduled for 27 January 2011 before the Ankara 1st Civil Court of First Instance.
Complainant Şanal's lawyer Süleyman Sallı emphasized in their petition submitted to court that his client has been on duty as a prosecutor in different places for eleven years. Sallı put forward that the book harmed Şanal's professional career and his reputation.
The stated subject of the complaint is a number of "interjections" used by Taşçı after some statements. The petition reads as follows:
"The cover of the book belonging to the defendant depicts a person with a cap and a beard that wears a gown used by judges or prosecutors. This person was evidently made to resemble and feature my client. This depiction on the book cover on its own is disregarding my client's professional honour and dignity. This is enough to unjustly make him a victim and harm his personal rights".
"Unpleasant headings"
"It is implied in the book that my client came to Erzurum by having taken efforts beyond his duty and authority when he gathered data for the file regarding the congregation. Comments that offended and harmed the reputation of my client were made when every action of the complainant done to fulfil his duty was interpreted differently. The book furthermore includes unpleasant headings such as 'the Erzurum-Erzincan conflict'".
"[...] Assessing the book as a whole from the perspective of the reader, the complainant appears as a supporter of the congregation and various other groups. It was intentionally written in a way as if my client was involved in all sorts of according activities. Even though the above mentioned reasons refer to only a small part of the complainant's personal rights, the compensation procedures make this trial necessary".
Awarded by Journalists Society
Journalist Taşçı was awarded by the Turkish Journalists Society (TGC) in the field of "News-Politics" for his series entitled "The congregation could not be touched" published on 13 August 2009.
Another complain about book of journalist Saymaz
Prosecutor Şanal just recently opened a case against Radikal newspaper reporter İsmail Saymaz on the grounds of his book "The postmodern Jihad". Şanal was allegedly described as a "supporter of postmodernism" and took this as a reason to claim TL 7,000 in compensation from the journalist. Previously, the Erzurum Special Authority Public Prosecution had launched an investigation into the book. (EÖ/VK)
