In prison for publishing
Turkish publisher, Ragip Zarakolu has been sentenced to five months in prison for publishing a book by a British author about the mass killing of Armenians in 1915.
He was found guilty of “insulting the institutions of the Turkish republic” under the notorious Article 301 of Turkey’s penal code.
This is the first high-profile verdict to be handed down since the law was reformed, under pressure from the EU to ensure freedom of speech in the country, and confirms campaigners’ fears that the changes were merely cosmetic.
In April it became a crime to insult the Turkish nation, rather than Turkishness. But insulting the Turkish nation can still be punished by up to two years in jail.
Wednesday 18 Jun 2008 | Paul | Turkey
