HIrgUr MUstemleke; Sanki Fiyasko Ha

[kurdeng at aps.nl]

From: tabe at newsdesk.aps.nl
Subject: Re: HIrgUr MUstemleke; Sanki Fiyasko Haberler, 30/5/95, TSI 08:00
Reply-To: kurdeng at aps.nl

   id VT6293; Tue, 30 May 1995 14:36:40 -0800

Turkish prosecutor wants high court review of speech law

By Aliza Marcus

ISTANBUL (Reuter) - A Turkish prosecutor said on Thursday part of a law
limiting freedom of expression that Ankara's Western allies want lifted was
unconstitutional and he wanted the high court to review it.

"I believe that a part is against the constitution and international
conventions," Aytac Tolay, a prosecutor in the Istanbul state security
court, told Reuters. Tolay said he raised his reservations about article 8 of
the anti-terror law, which bans "separatist propaganda," when he charged 99
people this week for publishing a book of articles by writers imprisoned for
the same crime or promoting racism. Despite his reservations, Tolay said he had
no choice but to charge the intellectuals as long as the law remained on the
books.

Because prosecutors are not empowered to refer cases to the high court, Tolay's
move leaves it up to the judges to decide whether or not to send the case to
the constitutional court for a ruling. Legal experts say this appeared to be
the first time a prosecutor had requested that article 8 be forwarded for
review.

Tolay's criticism centres on the part of article 8 banning alleged separatist
propaganda "regardless of the method, intention and ideas behind it." Removing
this clause would force prosecutors to show the defendent intended to damage
the "indivisible unity of the state," something those charged generally have
denied.

Some Western diplomats praised the move -- which theoretically would sharply
narrow the law's application -- saying it was one way for critics of the law to
get around parliament's inability to agree on long-promised reforms.

Article 8 has been used to jail scores of writers, academics, trade unionists
and others for written or verbal statements deemed "separatist propaganda."
Most of the people said or wrote something about Turkey's Kurdish minority --
from history books to poetry -- whose political and cultural rights are limited
by Turkish law.

Western allies have called on Ankara to ease restrictions on freedom of
expression, and Prime Minister Tansu Ciller has repeatedly promised to make
changes. The approval of Turkey's customs union with the Europe may hang in the
balance because the European Parliament has threatened to veto the deal
unless concrete steps are taken to better the country's human rights record.
But opposition within Ciller's own party has so far hampered reforms, with some
parliamentarians arguing restrictions cannot be lifted as long as Turkey is
battling separatist Kurdish guerrillas.