Four New 301 Cases Against Evrensel

The Gunluk Evrensel newspaper is on trial under controversial article 301 of Turkey's new Penal Code for covering popular and political demands to unveil the truth behind the "Semdinli incidents" and for reporting on the plight for rights of education sector workers.

Four cases launched against the newspaper continued at Istanbul's Sisli and Zeytinburnu justice halls on October 11 under heavy security measures and the monitoring of a number of intellectuals, artists and unionists who showed up to express their solidarity for the defendants.

Newspaper owner Ahmet Sami Belek and Editor-in-Chief Sahin Bayar are charged with "denigrating Turkishness", "provoking the people to commit an offence" and "praising an offence and offender" in news articles, statements and commentaries published in the newspaper.

"Under our principles of publishing, I have no authority to intervene in the news or articles" Belek told the court this week, rejecting the charges against him.

Bayar, on the other hand, said the articles subject to charges were published in the newspaper in line with the principles of objective and impartial journalism and that a commentary on trial was an article of substance, denying that any one of the items at court did not constitute an offence.

The hearing was adjourned to December 13.

It is being claimed that a statement by pro-Kurdish Democratic Society Party co-Chairman Aysel Tugluk 's remarkes in a November 18, 2005 dated article titled "If Susurluk had been solved there would not have been a Semdinli" denigrated the Turkish republic.

Remarks evaluating the Semdinli incidents made by unions and representatives of mass organizations are charged for "provoking the people to commit an offence".

A news article titled "This is the way the people bid farewell" is subject to charges of praising an offence and offender while Ahmet Yasaroglu's column is charged with denigrating the republic.

Cetin Diyar's June 20, 2002 dated commentary is also subject to trial under article 301. (EO/II/YE/EU)