14 February 2007
IFEX MEMBERS DEMAND REPEAL OF CRIMINAL DEFAMATION LAW
Twenty-one IFEX members, led by the International Publishers Association (IPA) and International PEN, have joined the growing number of Turkish and international organisations that are calling for legal reform in the wake of the murder of prominent editor Hrant Dink.
In a joint statement issued on 9 February 2007, the free expression groups said Article 301 - a provision in Turkey's penal code that criminalises defamation - must be repealed immediately.
Dink was among dozens of writers and journalists who have been charged under the provision for "insulting Turkishness." Prior to his murder, he had received a six-month suspended sentence.
Article 301 makes the act of "humiliating the government and judicial organs of the state or the police or military structures" punishable by six months to three years in prison.
Bianet reports that more than 69 court cases have been filed under Article 301 in the past year. Last year, Nobel Prize-winning writer Orhan Pamuk, faced charges under the provision but had his case thrown out by a judge following international pressure.
The IFEX joint statement was also signed by 13 non-member organisations, including Turkey's Initiative for Freedom of Expression, the Association of American Publishers and PEN Centres in the United Kingdom, Denmark, Mexico, Belgium and Russia.
In Turkey, a coalition called The Joint Platform on Human Rights has collected more than 20,000 signatures and endorsements from 100 non-governmental organisations calling for Article 301 to be repealed, notes Bianet.
Visit these links:
- IFEX Joint Statement: http://www.ifex.org/en/content/view/full/81010- Hrant Dink Murder Shocks a Nation: http://www.ifex.org/en/content/view/full/80575- Bianet: http://www.bianet.org/2006/11/01_eng/news91839.htm