Protest Article 301

[Keghart]

Dear Friend,

 

Arat Dink, Serkis Seropyan, Karin Karakashli, Aydin Engin, all members of the staff

of "Agos" weekly in Istanbul, and Erdal Dogal, the Dink family lawyer, are charged

with "denigrating Turkishness" under Article 301 of the Turkish Penal Code. Some

of them may face three years of jail time if convicted. The pretext is the publication

of an old interview with the Reuters News Agency in which the late assassinated

Hrant Dink had referred to the Genocide of the Armenians.

 

Renowned writers, scholars and journalists such as Orhan Pamuk, Elif Shafak,

Taner Akçam, Ragip Zarakolu and others were charged with similar criminal

offences over the last while. Some of them have chosen self-exile and are now

living in Europe, the United States and elsewhere for fear of their own lives and

avoiding the destiny that the late Hrant Dink faced.

 

Please visit http://protest.keghart.com to voice your opinion by endorsing an

open letter of protest. This letter will be delivered to International PEN at

http://www.internationalpen.org.uk Whether the letter will have any impact on

the outcome of the trials is unknown, however, it will be yet another document in

the annals of Human Rights abuses in Turkey. As such it could help bring attention

to the plight of Turkish Scholars, Human Rights activist, writers, journalists and

people at large to end a Draconian rule that prevents Turkey to explore its own

past history without fear of persecution. Furthermore, it may highlight the

timeliness of the application that Taner Akçam filed before the European Court of

Human Rights on the 20th of June 2007.

 

Your endorsement, dear friend, is solicited, because on previous occasions you

have supported similar initiatives. The website http://protest.keghart.com is

privately owned, free of advertisements and is not supported by any organization

or third party whether financially or otherwise. Your privacy is valued; other than

your name and location no other personal information will be displayed anywhere

and will not be used without your permission.

 

 

If you are in agreement with the content please circulate to your friends.