2017: Turkey: Deniz Yücel
Deniz Yücel, a Turkish-German journalist, has been charged with incitement to hatred and propaganda for a terrorist organisation. Yücel had already been jailed following the coup attempt on 15th July 2016.
Minister of Justice Bekir Bozdağ
Ministry of Justice
Milli Müdafa Caddesi
06659 Kızılay-Ankara
Republic of Turkey
info@adalet.gov.tr
Oslo 22nd March 2017
Dear Minister,
Norwegian PEN is urgently concerned about the welfare of the Turkish-German journalist Deniz Yücel who was detained on 14th February 2017.
Yücel, a German citizen, has been charged with incitement to hatred and propaganda for a terrorist organisation under Article 216 and Article 220 (8) of Turkey’s Penal Code, and remains in prison whilst no date for his trial has been set.
PEN calls on the Turkish authorities to immediately release Yücel and all other detained writers and journalists if they are not to be charged with a recognizably criminal offence and tried promptly in accordance with international standards of fair trial.
We furthermore call on Turkish authorities to protect freedom of expression and human rights, and refrain from using the state of emergency to crack down on peaceful dissidents, civil society, media and education.
Yours sincerely,
Ms Johanne Fronth-Nygren
Member of Writers in Prison Committee
Norwegian PEN
COPY:
President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan
Prime Minister Binali Yıldırım
Minister of Interior Affairs Selim Soylu
The Turkish Embassy in Norway
The Norwegian Ministry of Foreign Affairs
