Your Excellency:
The Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) strongly protests the ongoing
legal harassment of Hasan Ozgun, a journalist formerly working with
the now defunct Ozgur Gundem, a pro-Kurdish daily.
Ozgun, who was released from prison on April 21 after serving more than
nine years for being a member of a banned political organization, now
faces trial on four counts of "insulting" state institutions—a crime
under Article 159 of the Penal Code. The charges, which were brought
in 2001, came in response to a petition that Ozgun wrote while in prison
to the public prosecutor of Diyarbakir, a city in southwestern Turkey.
In the petition, he requested a retrial of his 1994 case and accused
Turkish authorities of human rights abuses.
Ozgun's trial is scheduled to begin in October 2003. If convicted, the
journalist faces up to 12 years in prison.
Ozgun, who previously served as the Diyarbakir correspondent for Ozgur
Gundem, was arrested on December 9, 1993, and tried and convicted
in 1994 under Article 168/2 of the Penal Code for being a member of
the outlawed Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK). Prosecutors based their
case against Ozgun in part on the paper's pro-Kurdish editorial slant
and the presence of archived Kurdish newspapers and photographs of Kurdish
militants found at the paper's office.
Prosecuting Ozgun based on his written opinion violates the internationally
guaranteed right to freedom of expression. We respectfully urge Your
Excellency to do everything within your power to ensure that these latest
charges against Ozgun are dismissed.
Thank you for your attention to this important matter. We await your
reply.
Sincerely,
Ann Cooper
Executive Director
