Written declaration No. 468 | Doc. 12506 | 27 May 2011

Defend the freedom of expression – the case of imprisoned authors in Turkey

Signatories: Mr Andrej HUNKO, Germany, UEL ; Ms Karin ANDERSEN, Norway, UEL ; Ms Marieluise BECK, Germany, ALDE ; Ms Anne BRASSEUR, Luxembourg, ALDE ; Ms Viola von CRAMON-TAUBADEL, Germany, SOC ; Mr Tuur ELZINGA, Netherlands, UEL ; Ms Pernille FRAHM, Denmark, UEL ; Mr Andreas GROSS, Switzerland, SOC ; Ms Annette GROTH, Germany, UEL ; Ms Sinikka HURSKAINEN, Finland, SOC ; Mr Jean HUSS, Luxembourg, SOC ; Mr Mats JOHANSSON, Sweden, EPP/CD ; Ms Liana KANELLI, Greece, UEL ; Ms Kateřina KONEČNÁ, Czech Republic, UEL ; Mr Tiny KOX, Netherlands, UEL ; Mr Aleksei LOTMAN, Estonia, UEL ; Ms Liliane MAURY PASQUIER, Switzerland, SOC ; Ms Lilja MÓSESDÓTTIR, Iceland, UEL ; Mr Thomas NORD, Germany, UEL ; Mr Dimitrios PAPADIMOULIS, Greece, UEL ; Mr Grigore PETRENCO, Republic of Moldova, UEL ; Ms Marietta de POURBAIX-LUNDIN, Sweden, EPP/CD ; Mr Christos POURGOURIDES, Cyprus, EPP/CD ; Ms Marlene RUPPRECHT, Germany, SOC ; Mr Sergey SOBKO, Russian Federation, UEL ; Ms Katrin WERNER, Germany, UEL

This written declaration commits only those who have signed it.

Taking into account that:

• the freedom of expression is guaranteed in article 10 of the European Convention on Human Rights;
• the freedom of expression has to be defended in many member states of the Council of Europe;
• at least 44 authors and journalists are currently imprisoned in Turkey, six are charged or convicted solely for their works and the others are held under the pretext of a criminal offence;
• the author Doğan Akhanlı was finally released from the pretrial detention of almost four months based on obviously baseless and fabricated allegations;
• the author Nevin Berktaş was sentenced to ten months imprisonment because of her meanwhile forbidden book “Prison Cells” in which she describes her 21 years in prison;
• the author Pınar Selek faces a new trial in Turkey after the Court of Cassation has reversed two acquittals.

We, the undersigned, hereby declare our support for the imprisoned authors and journalists in Turkey. We ask the Human Rights Commissioner, the Committee of Ministers and the member states to investigate the imprisonment of authors and journalists in Turkey, to monitor the development of the freedom of expression and to support the independence of its judiciary.