Trial of 5 journalists indicted for insulting state judicial bodies of the country and putting pressure upon them will start in Turkey today. Last September 4 correspondents of the Radical newspaper and correspondent of the Milliyet newspaper condemned the decision of the Turkish court banning the conference on the Armenian Genocide. In case the journalists admit their guilt, they may face imprisonment from 6 months to 10 years. “I did not do anything, I merely exercised my right for freedom of speech and stated that the conference was necessary and the court hampered establishment of democracy,” stated correspondent of the Milliyet Hasan Cemal. He urged the Turkish authorities to encourage “change of mentality” in judicial institutions, as well as reform article 301 of the Criminal Code of Turkey, which provides for punishment for “insulting state judicial institutions of Turkey” that many intelligentsia representatives were charged with. Charges against Turkish writer Orhan Pamuk were brought in compliance with that article. According to BIA NGO, which is engaged in freedom of speech and journalists’ rights, proceedings on criminal cases are instituted against 29 journalists and publishers by now, reported RFE/RL.
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