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17 February 2010

Turkey:
Folk singer and poet on trial for ‘praising crime’

Tunceli Prosecution Office has filed a case against folk singer Pınar Sağ and poet Mehmet Özcan charging them with two years prison sentences for "praising crime".

Prosecutor Halil Gümüş’s indictment states that Pınar Sağ sang a song at an open air meeting on 29 March 2009 and addressed the crowd afterwards saying that İbrahim Kaypakkaya, the founder of Workers and Peasants’ Liberation Army of Turkey (TKP/ML-TIKKO), who was captured in Tunceli in 1973 and died in Diyarbakır Prison because of torture, "stood up against the fascist government”.

Mehmet Özcan expressed his admiration for Kaypakkaya at the meeting which was organised by Murat Kur, an independent candidate for mayor in Tunceli.

Police recorded the event on video, and the prosecution office filed a case after having examined the video.

Pınar Sağ and Mehmet Özcan are charged under Article 215 of Turkish Penal Code and face prison sentences for two years. The first hearing will be held in May.


Source

Antenna's Freedom of Expression Weekly Bulletin, 5 February 2010.
antenna-tr.org


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