Irfan Ucar and Umur Hozatli, journalist and editor for the "Ülkede Özgür Gündem" newspaper respectively, are on trial under Article 301 for commenting on current affairs.
Trial postponed
Their trial has been postponed until 22 May 2008 because the judge of the Beyoglu 2nd Penal Code excused himself at the hearing today. This means that the two journalists have to live with the label of "defendant" for at least another five months. Ucar told bianet, "Even if we do not get punished, we experience the stress all the time."
The journalists were supported at the trial by Barbara Neppert from the German branch of Amnesty International (AI), Gillian Cleverley, also of AI, and Sanar Yurdatapan, spokesperson for the Turkish Initiative against Crimes of Thought.
Two journalists...
Ucar is on trial because, in an article entitled "Number 301", he criticised the punishment of Aram Publications, which had published a book called "They say you have disappeared". The book is about Nazim Babaoglu, a journalist who disappeared in 1994 and was never heard of again.
Journalist and editor Hozatli is on trial for an article entitled "Lorin- The Good Father Started Work", published on 16 September 2006, in which he criticised a bomb attack in a park in Diyarbakir which also led to the deaths of children. He faces a potential prison sentence of two years.
A singer...
Singer Ferhat Tunc is back in court today (13 December). He has been on trial for around three years and stands accused of “insulting and ridiculing the court".
Tunc wrote an article about Kurdish politician Leyla Zana entitled “A Revolutionary Leyla and a Song”. It was published in the “Yeniden Özgür Gündem” on 19 January 2004. Tunc’s trial has been going on for around three years.
The responsible editor Mehmet Colak, who lives abroad, is also on trial together with Tunc. The case is being heard at the Beyoglu 2nd Penal Court in Istanbul.
And a urinating prosecutor...
It has emerged that Article 301, which has up to now always been used against journalists, writers and human rights activists, will now be applied against a prosecutor.
A.C., former prosecutor in Adiyaman, is being tried for urinating against the court walls at night after drinking, and for swearing heavily at members of the judiciary. The case will be heard by the Adiyaman Heavy Penal Court. (EÖ/TK/AG)
