Çerkezköy 1st Assize Court convicted human rights advocate Eren Keskin to 10 months of prison due to Article 301 when she said “The [Turkish] state has the brutal mentality to massacre a 12 year old child. Turkey must account…Turkey’s history is dirty”, referring to the death of Uğur Kaymaz in the southeastern province of Mardin.
On November 4, 2011, Justice Ministry allowed an investigation into Eren Keskin who testified in June 2014.
Similar sentences have been issued on hundreds of human rights activists, journalists and intellectuals in Turkey including Hrant Dink.
Prison if approved
While the case was initially launched in December 19, 2011m it was concluded on December 12, 2014.
According to Radikal newspaper, the court didn’t suspend the announcement of verdict or its suspension or commuting into a fine, due to the “conviction about Keskin’s previous acts and her determination to repeat the crime again”. Convicted of Article 301 after a long time in Turkey, she will face prison if it is approved by Court of Cessation.
“Nobody can insult states, institutions and person in the name thoughts,” the verdict said.
It was also added that the sentence was not issued on the lower limit considering “the defendant’s aims and intensity of her purpose”.
“Sentence was issued on the basis of revenge”
Claiming that she had no criminal record, Keskin said that the sentence was issued on the basis of revenge”.
“The term ‘determination to repeat the crime again’ is used for severe criminal cases. I am a human rights activist, I am an advocate. I was always tried due to my thoughts. The issuing of this sentence is meaningful after the government’s claims of ‘nobody is serving in prison for their thought’. Therefore, there is nothing new in Turkey,” she said.
Demirer’s efforts for suspension
Journalist-writer Temel Demirer was also tried for saying “Hrant Dink wasn’t killed for being an Armenian but for recognizing the [Armenian] genocide under Article 301. His request for the suspension of Article 301 in an administrational court was also suspended within Turkey’s 3rd row of judicial package.
ECHR: Violation of freedom
European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) convicted Turkey of violating freedom of expression in the case of Prof. Dr. Taner Akçam on Article 301’s usage even if its launching depended on ministry approval.
Constitutional Court inert for 10 years
Turkey’s Constitutional Court, on the other hand, ruled that it would not review the case for 10 years as it rejected the suspension of Article 301 on October 4, 2013. The court also rejected the suspension request in 2009. (EÖ/BM)
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