Turkish Judiciary on Trial Before EU Report

Yesterday, Turkey's busy courts began their summer break. When the judges return to work on 3 September, more than 40 cases concerning the freedom of expression will be waiting for them.

They will be hearing 33 of these cases before 7 November, the day when the European Commission will publish a Progress Report on Turkey.

19 of the cases have been brought under Article 301 of the Turkish penal code (formerly Article 159). The European Union has long called for a change to this article in order to conform to modern standards. It will be considered in the progress report.

Among the cases under Article 301 or 159 to be heard this year are those of journalist Ersen Korkmaz, who has been prosecuted for the last five years, as well as new cases, such as the one against journalists Lale Sariibrahimoglu and Ahmet Sik.

Another case is that of writer Emin Karaca, who after critising the army on the anniversary of the execution of militant student leaders Deniz Gezmis, Yusuf Aslan and Hüseyin Inan in an article entitled "Write in Turkey and in Europe".

Karaca has been on trial since November 2002. In September 2005, he was given a five-month prison sentence which was then converted into a fine of 900 YTL. However, the court of appeals overturned the decision on the grounds of procedure. Now, he is being tried by a penal court in Istanbul.

According to the BIA Media Monitoring Report published on 6 July, there were four new court cases opened under Article 301 between April and June. (EÖ/EÜ/AG)