Leading Turkish writer faces differ

[kurdeng at aps.nl]

Subject: Re: Leading Turkish writer faces different charge

     id VT21694; Mon, 02 Oct 1995 15:46:58 -0800

------------------------ Forwarded from : ats at etext.org ------------------------

Leading Turkish writer faces different charge

    ISTANBUL, Sept 27 (Reuter) - A Turkish court agreed on
Wednesday to try renowned author Yasar Kemal on a charge of
``provoking hatred'' instead of a controversial security article
charge of ``separatist propaganda.''
    The original propaganda charge, widely used against those
who criticise Turkey's military campaign against separatist
Kurds, was filed under a law the European Union wants changed as
a condition for closer economic ties with Turkey.
    ``It is not in the indictment, but we are thinking of
charging him under article 312,'' the prosecutor told the court
during the third hearing.
    The judges accepted the decision and Kemal's lawyers said
the original charge would remain in the indictment but not be
addressed by either side. No reason was given for the change.
    The prosecutor's move means Kemal faces up to three years
imprisonment instead of five years if found guilty of
``provoking hatred and enmity by displaying racism or
regionalism'' in his article in the German Der Spiegel magazine.
    Kemal, charged earlier this year for ``separatist
propaganda,'' had criticised Turkey's war against Kurdish
insurgents as a ``dirty and dirtying war.''
    Turkey's European allies have called for Ankara to lift
Article 8, under which scores of writers, lawyers and others are
in prison for expressing their views on Turkey's Kurdish
minority and the guerrilla war in southeast Turkey.
    The European parliament has threatened to veto a lucrative
customs deal with Turkey unless Prime Minister Tansu Ciller
sticks to promises to change the law.
    Lawyers say Article 312, which is not slated for change, has
increasingly been used against writers by state security court
prosecutors in the place of the ``separatist propaganda''
charge.
    Kemal's lawyers told reporters after the hearing they would
argue that the penal code article -- like the original charge --
is contrary to both Turkey's constitution and human rights
protocols ratified by parliament.
    Kemal, Turkey's perennial Nobel candidate, later said he
just wanted the case to be over because the process has made it
impossible for him to concentrate on his writing.
    ``At least if I am in prison I will be able to write,''
joked Kemal, whose novels often deal with peasant life in
central Anatolian Turkey.
    The court set the fourth hearing for December 1.

Reuter N:Copyright 1995, Reuters News Service


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