
PAPER CHASE NEWSBURST |    |
Serious law. Primary sources. Global perspective. |
|

 |

|
Tuesday, October 31, 2006 |

Turkish PM says no plans to change state slander provision for EU bid
Katerina Ossenova at 3:07 PM ET

[JURIST] Turkish Prime Minister Tayyip Erdogan [official website; BBC profile] has said that his government has no plans to abolish Article 301 [Amnesty backgrounder] of the country's penal code, despite warnings [JURIST report] from the European Union [official website] that it infringes upon the freedom of expression. Turkey already revised portions of its penal code [JURIST report] last year, and Erdogan said Sunday that Turkey will not change Article 301 but will consider EU suggested changes. The EU has warned Turkey that its slow progress [JURIST report] on a variety of legal and other reforms could threaten its bid [EU materials] for membership in the European Union [JURIST news archive]. Criticism of Article 301 is suspected to be included in the European Commission's annual progress report on Turkey [JURIST news archive; CIA backgrounder], due to be published on November 8.
Article 301 makes it a crime to insult the Turkish identity and has been used to prosecute human rights defenders, journalists and other members of civil society. Turkish novelists Elif Shafak [personal website], Hrant Dink and Orhan Pamuk [JURIST news archive] have all been charged under Article 301 for discussing the alleged Armenian genocide. Shafak was acquitted and Pamuk's charges were dismissed [JURIST reports], while Dink faces a retrial [JURIST report]. The Cyprus Mail has more.


Link |
e-mail | print | subscribe |
JURIST news archive | © JURIST

| For a one-stop snapshot of the latest legal news that matters, with breaking documents, new legal videos, live law-related webcasts, commentary by expert law professors and more - all updated through the day in real time, with no ads and no registration barriers - visit JURIST's homepage and check back often... |
|
|

ABOUT | |
|
 | 
Paper Chase is JURIST's real-time legal news weblog, powered by a team of 20 law student reporters and editors led by law professor Bernard Hibbitts at the University of Pittsburgh School of Law. As an educational service, Paper Chase is dedicated to presenting important legal news and materials rapidly, objectively and intelligibly in an accessible, ad-free format.
|
|
|