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| Sample Appeal: Hrant Dink |
Please write a polite letter on your personal or institutional
letterhead expressing your concern about Turkish Penal Code Article 301, and mail to Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan (postage
91˘) and Nabi Sensoy (postage 41˘).
[Date]
Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan
TC Easbakanlik
Ankara, Turkey
Fax: 011 90 312 417 0476
Your Excellencies,
I am writing to express my concern over the many writers, journalists and publishers who continue to be brought before the Turkish Courts under Penal Code Article 301 in violation of their right to freedom of expression, as guaranteed by the United Nations International Covenant Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR), and the European Convention on Human Rights (ECHR), to which Turkey is a party. Defamation and/or insult laws cannot be justified if their purpose or effect is to protect the “reputations” of entities other than those which have the right to sue and to be sued.
I understand that the Turkish government is due to present proposed changes to Article 301 of the Turkish penal code in the coming days. I respectfully urge you to take this opportunity to abolish Article 301 of the Penal Code entirely and remove once and for any and all articles that can be used to suppress the rights enshrined in Article 19 of the ICCPR and Article 10 of the ECHR.
Thank you for your attention to this matter.
Sincerely,
[Your name and signature]
Cc: H.E. Nabi Şensoy
The Embassy of the Republic of Turkey
2525 Massachusetts Ave.
NW
Washington, DC 20008
Fax: (202) 612-6744
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