Turkey’s controversial article 301 has been reworded. Under an amendment passed by the parliament this morning, The term ‘Turkishness’ is replaced by the ‘Turkish nation’, and the term ‘Republic’ with ‘State of the Republic of Turkey’.
Index on Censorship last week honoured Arat Dink, who has been prosecuted under 301 for insulting Turkishness, with a Freedom of Expression Award.
Nihat Ergun of Turkey’s ruling AK party has said he does not know when a proposed amendment to Article 301 of the Turkish penal code will be raised in parliament.
The alleged killers of journalist Hrant Dink return to court today, with many groups expressing misgivings about the conduct of their trial, writes Charlotte Alfred
The fourth hearing in the trial of suspects accused of killing Hrant Dink, the Turkish-Armenian editor of Agos, starts today in Istanbul, amid widespread concern over the inadequacy of the Turkish investigation into the murder.
Dink was assassinated outside the newspaper’s offices in Istanbul on 19 January 2007. Ogun Samast, a teenage ultra-nationalist, was arrested the day after the murder and reportedly confessed to the killing. A total of 18 suspects, including Samast, were later charged with planning and organising the murder.
Over more than a year of investigations, Turkish and European lawyers and human rights organisations have stressed the importance of a fair and transparent process, and highlighted the case as a test of the rule of law in Turkey.
Documentary screening and panel discussion
For Hrant, for Justice: the ongoing struggle for freedom of expression in Turkey
7pm Thursday 28 February 2008
Amnesty International UK – The Human Rights Action Centre