Article 301 Turkish Censorship

Censorship
Article 301 Before & After April 30th, 2008
Identical Laws Outside of Turkey?
Austria Criminal Code 248
France Internal Security Law
Italy Article 292
German Criminal Code Section 90
Netherlands Penal Code
Article 111, 112, 113, 137C
Portugal Penal Code
Article 332, 323, 324
Armenian Criticism of Article 301, Armenian Criminal Code
Article 301 of the Armenian Criminal Code?
Articles 136:Insult, 135:Libel, 318:Insulting a representative of authorities
Conclusion

Article 301 is a controversial article of law under the Turkish Penal Code. The article made it a crime to insult "Turkishness" before the April 30th, 2008 reform. It was introduced on June 1st, 2005 as part of law reforms. There has been more than 60 cases dealing with Article 301 violations, some of the cases were high-profile and attracted media attention. One of the most notable of cases was that of Hrant Dink, a Turkish-Armenian journalist who had written newspaper articles criticizing Turkey as well as the Armenian diaspora.

On April 30th, 2008, reforms were introduced covering up the legal loopholes that allowed for some high-profile cases that were really unnecessary. The reforms now force prosecutors to seek the approval of the minister of justice before filing a case. The reforms also rename the title of the article and change "Insulting Turkishness" to the more appropriate "Insulting the Turkish people".

Censorship
Censorship is a restriction of freedom of speech and can restrict the perspectives of a people and should never be accepted, but really how many countries in the world really have pure freedom of speech. Since speech has the power to overthrow governments and sometimes even overthrow democracy, is it really surprising to see so many governments promoting censorship? The question of where to draw the line puzzles law makers.

An Armenian protest against Article 301 in front of the Turkish Embassy.

The debate has sparked tensions amongst Turks as well who are wondering whether the law is really necessary. The tensions may be a result of high cases being introduced that were extreme interpretations of the law. It has become controversial and politicized so much that Turkey is even criticized outside of Turkey because of Article 301.
Article 301 Before April 30th, 2008

Before the amendment of Article 301 on April 30th, 2008:
The person who publicly insults Turkishness, Republic or Turkish Grant National Assembly is inflicted imprisonment for between six months and three years.

The person who publicly insults Government of Republic of Turkey, judicial bodies of the state, the police organization and military organization of the state is inflicted imprisonment for between six months and two years.
If the insult of Turkishness occur in a foreign country by a Turkish citizen the punishment increased by one third.
The declarations which aim to criticize are not evaluated as crime.

Article 301 After April 30th, 2008
Title of the article amended as: "Insulting the Turkish People, Republic of Turkey and Governmental Institutions and Bodies"
The person who publicly insults Turkish People, Republic of Turkey or Turkish Grand National Assembly, Government of Republic of Turkey and the judicial bodies of state is inflicted imprisonment for between six months and two years.
The person who publicly insults military organizations or the police organizations of state is punished according to the first sub-clause.
The declarations which aim to criticize are not evaluated as crime.
Examination related to this article depends on the permission of Minister of Justice.
Identical Laws Outside of Turkey?

Article 301 becomes even more interesting if one were to realize that there are identical laws in many nations around the world and for the Turkish article of law to come under such criticism the question remains as to why Turkey is targeted. -1-

Austria Criminal Code 248
The Austrian criminal code, has Article 248 titled "Insulting the government and the symbols of the nation".

Austrian Penal Code wrote:
Whosoever, in such a manner that the act becomes known to the general public, in a malicious way, insults and brings into contempt the Austrian Republic and its States, is liable for imprisonment for up to one year.

Whosoever, in the manner described in Paragraph 1, in a malicious manner and at a public occasion or a function open to the public, insults, brings into contempt or belittles the flag displayed for official purposes or the national or state anthems of the Austrian Republic or its States, is liable for imprisonment of up to 6 months or a fine of up to 360 times the fixed daily rate.

It is an almost identical law that can be used to censor citizens of Austria. Yet the criticism and scrutiny that Austria has faced because of this law is virtually non-existent.
France Internal Security Law

In France, it is an offense to insult the national flag or anthem, with a penalty of a maximum 9,000 euros fine or up to six months imprisonment. In addition, offending the dignity of the Republic is not allowed. -2-

Italy Article 292

Article 292 of the criminal code is declared as a Crimes Against the State in Italy, to publicly insult or to promote or commit the desecration of the flag or any other emblem of the State. The punishment is imprisonment for up to four years. It is meant to punish those who publicly insult or vilify the national colors of the nation or the nation itself. -3-

German Criminal Code Section 90
Germany has a law, Section 90, that is quite identical to the Article 301 of the Turkish Penal Code:

German Criminal Code Section 90 wrote:

"Disparagement of the State and its Symbol"

Whoever publicly, in a meeting or through the dissemination of writings (Section 11 subsection (3)):

1. Insults or maliciously maligns the Federal Republic of Germany or one of its Lands or its constitutional order.
2. Disparages the colors, flag, coat of arms or the anthem of the Federal Republic of Germany or one of its Lands, shall be punished with imprisonment for not more than three years or a fine.
-4-

Netherlands Penal Code

The Netherlands Penal Code has a number of articles that are very identical to the Turkish Article 301: Articles 111, 113, 131, 132, 137

Crimen læsæ Maiestatis

Article 111
Intentional insulting of The King is prosecutable with a detention of maximum 5 years and/or a monetary fine of the fourth category.

Article 112
Intentional insulting of the spouse of The King, the Heir Apparent and the spouse of the Heir Apparent is prosecutable with a detention of maximum 4 years and/or a monetary fine of the fourth category.

Article 113
He who openly distributes written or imagined contents in which an insult is made of The King, the spouse of The King, the Heir Apparent, the spouse of the Heir Apparent or the Regent, or has these in stock and is aware of the insulting content of it, is prosecutable with a detention of maximum 1 year and/or a monetary fine of the third category.

Article 137C
A person who publicly, either orally or in writing or by image, intentionally makes a defamatory statement about a group of persons on the grounds of their race, religion or personal beliefs, or their hetero- or homosexual orientation, is liable to a term of imprisonment of not more than one year or a fine of the third category. (max penalty €458)-5-

Portugal Penal Code
Portugal also has a number of articles dealing with freedom of speech.

Article 332
Anyone who by words, gesture, in writing or by any other means of public communication, desecrates the Republic, national flag or the national anthem the symbols or emblems of the Portuguese sovereignty, or in any other way fails to pay them their due respect, shall be punished with a prison sentence of up to 2 years or with a pecuniary penalty of up to 240 days.

Who publicly, by means of words, gestures or print publication, or by other means of public communication, insults the Republic, the Flag or the National Anthem, the coats of arms or the symbols of Portuguese sovereignty, or fails to show the respect they are entitled to, shall be punished with up to two years imprisonment or a fine of up to 240 days

Article 323
Who publicly, by means of words, gestures or print publication, or by other means of public communication, insults the official flag or other symbol of sovereignty of a foreign State or of an international organization of which Portugal is a member shall be punished with up to one year imprisonment or a fine of up to 120 days.

Article 324
This law determines the conditions of Article 323.

Portugal maintains diplomatic relations with the insulted country, and that there is reciprocity (i.e., that the insulted country would also punish any insult against Portuguese symbols of sovereignty, should they occur there) -6-

It seems that there are quite a few laws that censor Europeans, and yet it seems to be a focal point of some Europeans to criticize Turkey for its laws when they have the same laws in their own countries. Is it merely a lack of legislative knowledge or is there some Anti-Turkism promoting groups that are distracting Europeans to pay attention more to Turkey than to themselves.

Armenian Criticism of Article 301
It seems that Armenian organizations and it's respective government have become focused on Article 301 of the Turkish Penal Code because of the recent murder of Turkish-Armenian journalist Hrant Dink in Turkey and his Article 301 case, which was indeed dropped. Yet some of these organizations continue to put forward this argument that Turkey restricts freedom of speech to promote another idea: That the Turkish people in fact believe in the Armenian Genocide, but simply cannot speak about it because of Turkish restrictions on Freedom of Speech such as Article 301.

This idea that the Turkish people are not allowed to debate or discuss the events of 1915 is flawed and simply political propaganda in order to convince neutral observers who question the validity of the Armenian Genocide Allegations. The Turkish people living in Turkey and abroad have always been free to discuss the events of 1915 and have done extensive research on the issue.

Turkey has even opened up its Ottoman archives related to the events and cataloged much of the documents. There is even a minority of Turks who side with the Armenian perspective on the issue, but they are not experts.

Historians in Turkey have a consensus that the Armenian Genocide allegations are simply political exaggerations of complex historical events of the Ottoman Empire.

Armenian Criminal Code
There are many censorship laws in the current oppressive regime of Armenia. In fact, these laws do not seem to come into question when Armenian organizations condemn Turkey for its laws.

Article 301 of the Armenian Criminal Code?
It seems that Article 301 is also a controversial article in Armenia, not just Turkey.

Article 301 of Armenian Criminal Code wrote:
Public calls for changing the constitutional order of the Republic of Armenia by force.

Public calls for seizing state power by force, changing the constitutional order of the Republic of Armenia by force are punished with a fine in the amount of 300 to 500 minimal salaries, or with arrest for the term of 2-3 months, or with imprisonment for the term of up to 3 years.

Article 136: Insult
1. Insult is improper humiliation of other person’s honor and dignity, is punished with a fine in the amount of up to 100 minimal salaries, or correctional labor for up to 6 months..

2. Insult manifested in public speeches, in publicly demonstrated works or by mass media, is punished with a fine in the amount of 50 to 200 minimal salaries, or correctional work for up to 1 year.

Article 135: Libel
Quote:
1. Dissemination of false information humiliating the person’s good reputation, dignity and honor, is punished with a fine in the amount of 50 to 150 minimal salaries, or correctional labor for up to 1 year.

2. Libel through public speeches, publicly demonstrated works or through mass media, is punished with a fine in the amount of 100 to 200 minimal salaries, or correctional labor for 1-2 years, or with arrest for up to 2 months.

3. Actions envisaged in parts 1 or 2 of this Article, accompanied with accusation of the person of committing grave or particularly grave crime,

are punished with correctional labor for up to 2 years, or with arrest for the term of 1 to 2 months, or with imprisonment for up to 3 years.

Article 318: Insulting a representative of authorities

Quote:
1. Publicly insulting a representative of authorities, in relation to the duties carried out by him, is punished with a fine in the amount of 100 to 200 minimal salaries, or correctional labor for 6 months to 1 year.

2. The same act expressed in public speeches, in publicly demonstrated works, or by mass media, is punished with a fine in the amount of 200 to 400 minimal salaries, or with arrest for the term of 1-3 months, or with imprisonment for the term of up to 2 years.
-7-

Conclusion
It has become a heated debate not just in Turkey but around the world, it is clear that Article 301 is somewhat censorship, but perhaps it is acceptable since so many nations in the world also have such identical laws. If it isn't acceptable, then shouldn't the Western world be the model for which Turkey should follow. Today, Turkey is leading the reforms and democratic progressive ideas of the West by changing it's own laws, while Europe remains silent on European laws of censorship.

Sources
Conditionality, Impact, and Prejudice in EU-Turkey Relations - http://www.iai.it/pdf/Quaderni/Quaderni_E_9.pdf
TDN - http://www.turkishdailynews.com.tr/article.php?enewsid=57105
TDN - http://www.turkishdailynews.com.tr/article.php?enewsid=57105
TDN - http://www.turkishdailynews.com.tr/article.php?enewsid=57105
deds.nl - http://home.deds.nl/~quip/deel/wetten.html#137c
República Portuguesa, Código Penal - http://www.legix.pt/docs/CP.pdf
Republic of Armenia Criminal Code - http://www.legislationline.org/upload/legislations/db/3a/bb9bb21f5c6170dadc5efd70578c.htm