|
 Professional Background
The director and owner of Belge Publishing House, Ragip Zarakolu has been subject to a lifetime of harassment from the Turkish authorities. After graduating college in 1968, Zarakolu began writing for magazines such as Ant and Yeni Ufuklar, both of which focused on issues of social justice in Turkey. In 1971, a military government assumed power in Turkey and instituted a crackdown on writers it deemed subversive. Following a conviction and a three-year stay in prison, Zarakolu steadfastly refused to abandon his campaign for freedom of thought, striving for an "attitude of respect for different thoughts and cultures to become widespread in Turkey." Since his writings were repeatedly banned in Turkey for their criticism of the country's military regime, Zarakolu began to turn his attention to abuses of human rights by governments in South America and elsewhere.
In 1977, Zarakolu and his wife Ayse Nur founded the Belge Publishing House, which has been a focus for censorship since its inception. Its publications have not only drawn the government's ire. Zarakolu's office was firebombed by an extremist rightist group in 1995, forcing it to be housed in a cellar. Despite the death of his wife in 2002, Zarakolu has continued to publish writings critical of human rights violations around the world, especially in his native Turkey.
Current Status
PEN denounces the June 17, 2008 conviction of Ragip Zarakolu for “insulting the State” under Article 301 of the Turkish penal code for publishing a Turkish translation of British author George Jerjian’s book The Truth Will Set Us Free: Armenians and Turks Reconciled. Zarakolu was sentenced to a five-month prison term, which was reportedly subsequently commuted to a fine. He is appealing the conviction.
Zarakolu was first charged for publishing Jerjian’s book in December 2004 under Article 159 of the Turkish penal code, which made it illegal to “insult or belittle” various state institutions. That article was replaced in March 2005 with the now-infamous Article 301, a new version of the insult law that conservative prosecutors have since used against dozens of writers, journalists, and publishers in Turkey. Article 301 was slightly amended on April 30, 2008.
On May 3, 2007, Zarakolu was acquitted of similar charges under Article 301 in another case for the publication of Professor Dora Zakayan’s book, An American Doctor in Turkey: Garabed Hatcherian: My Smyrna Ordeal of 1922. This case had its first hearing in August 2005, when the prosecutor demanded a six-year prison sentence for Zarakolu for having “insulted the Army” and also “Turkishness” by publishing this book. Attila Tuygan, the translator of Dora Skayan’s book, testified as a defense witness and stated that as translator of the book, he held himself responsible. As a result, Zarakolu was acquitted, but a new trial against the book under Article 301 is expected to open sometime in the summer of 2009, with Tuygan held responsible.
|
Case History
Zarakolu's staunch belief in freedom of expression, his vocal campaign against book bannings, and his persistence in publishing works that violate Turkey's repressive censorship laws have resulted in a catalog of indictments dating back to the early 1970s.
His aforementioned 1971 conviction and three-year imprisonment stemmed from accusations by Turkey's new military government that Zarakolu was in cahoots with an international communist organization. In the 30 years since his release, Zarakolu has continued to defy Turkey's censorship laws, especially Article 312 of Turkey's Penal Code, which outlaws "making divisive propaganda via publication." The Belge Publishing House operated under a barrage of charges brought by Turkish authorities against Zarakolu and his wife. Over the years, such charges resulted in further imprisonment for the couple, the wholesale confiscation and destruction of books, and the imposition of heavy fines. Zarakolu's wife passed away in 2002. |
