US embassy cable - 05ISTANBUL2058

UNCLAS ISTANBUL 002058 
 
SIPDIS 
 
DEPARTMENT FOR EUR/SE 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: PGOV, PHUM, TU, Istanbul 
SUBJECT: ARMENIAN CONFERENCE FALLOUT: PROSECUTORS TARGET 
JOURNALISTS FOR INSULTING THE JUDICIARY 
 
REF: A. ISTANBUL 2020 
 
     B. ISTANBUL 1680 
     C. ISTANBUL 1780 
 
1. (U)  Adding to the growing list of publishers and writers 
being taken to criminal court (ref A), an Istanbul prosecutor 
filed charges December 2 against five prominent Turkish 
journalists for their articles criticizing the September 2005 
Istanbul court decision that granted an injunction blocking 
the holding of that month's "Alternative Armenian Conference" 
(ref B) at two local universities.  (Note: the conference was 
ultimately held at a venue not covered by the court 
injunction.  End Note.)  Milliyet's Hasan Cemal, along with 
Radikal Editor Ismet Berkan and columnists Murat Belge, Haluk 
Sahin and Erol Katircioglu, wrote critical columns and 
articles at the time, terming the postponement order an 
attack on academic freedom and a travesty of justice, among 
other things. 
 
2. (U)  Ismet Berkan is being charged under Article 288 of 
the penal code, which makes it illegal to make a statement 
about a case with the object of "influencing" any party to 
it, but the other writers are the latest victims of the penal 
code's infamous Article 301, which criminalizes insulting the 
state or state organs (the judiciary in this case).  The 
journalists' trial is due to commence February 7, 2006; the 
defendents face sentences ranging from six months to ten 
years if convicted.  Press reports indicate that the cases 
were brought to the Istanbul prosecutor by nationalist lawyer 
Kemal Kerincsiz and his Union of Turkish Jurists, who were 
behind the court's September postponement order.  Kerinsiz 
and his group have also filed an appeal seeking a harsher 
sentence in the case of journalist Hrant Dink's conviction 
for insulting "Turkishness" (ref C), and they have been in 
the forefront of recent demonstrations at the Ecumenical 
Patriarchate, as well. 
 
3. (SBU) Comment: These latest targets are all prominent and 
well-known commentators (as well as regular Consulate and 
Embassy contacts), and their cases are likely to assume a 
high public profile.  Though no reminder was needed, given 
the upcoming case of Orhan Pamuk (which begins on December 
16) and other recent cases, the indictments highlight once 
again the extent to which freedom of expression is 
constrained in Turkey.  End Comment. 
JONES