The trial of Ragip Zarakolu, publisher and free expression activist, has been postponed until December 2, 2010. He is accused of spreading propaganda seen to support the banned Kurdish Worker’s Party (PKK), through his publication Mehmet Güler’s book, The KCK File/The Global State and Kurds Without a State. International PEN is disappointed to learn that Ragip Zarakolu is being tried in contravention of international standards safeguarding the right to freedom of expression.

Background Information

The first hearing of Zarakolu’s trial took take place on September 30, 2010. The trial has now been postponed until December 2. 

For more information on this case, please visit: Rapid Action 9/22/10.  

Zarakolu is 62 years old and has been fighting for freedom of expression in Turkey for over 30 years, publishing books on issues such as minority and human rights. As one of the 50 writers chosen to represent the struggle for freedom of expression since 1960 for the Writers in Prison Committee’s 50th Anniversary Campaign—Because Writers Speak Their Minds—Zarakolu’s case is emblematic of the ongoing struggles many writers, publishers, and freedom of expression and human rights activists in Turkey continue to face.

Write A Letter

  • Expressing concern that another trial has been opened against Ragip Zarakolu and Mehmet Güler that, if they are convicted, would be in breach of Turkey’s commitments under both Article 19 of the International Convention on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR) and Article 10 of the European Convention on Human Rights;
  • Urging the Turkish government to review all relevant laws with a goal of bringing them into accord with international human rights standards, in particular the ICCPR and European Convention on Human Rights, to which Turkey is a signatory.

Send Your Letter To

Mr. Sadullah Ergin
Minister of Justice
06669 Kizilay
Ankara
Turkey
Fax: 00 90 312 419 3370

Please also send appeals to the diplomatic representatives for Turkey in your country if possible. 

Please contact this office if sending appeals after December 2, 2010: ftw [at] pen.org