2015 Tyrkia: Can Dündar
To
President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan
Cumhurbaşkanlığı Sarayı
06560, Beştepe
Ankara, Turkey
Oslo, May 18th 2015
Your Excellency President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan,
The Norwegian Writers in Prison Committee hereby ask the President to stop bringing criminal defamation cases against writers and journalists engaging in legitimate political criticism. Especially we ask the President to drop the cases against the writer Can Dündar because of his three legitimate critical articles published in Cumhuriyet newspaper and its webpage.
We will remind the President that the limits of acceptable criticism of politicians and senior public officials are wider than for private individuals, as has been determined repeatedly in international law such as in the case of Tuşalp v Turkey before the European Court of Human Rights. We will also remind the President that Turkey has the obligation to respect the right to freedom of expression under the European Convention on Human Rights (ECHR) and the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR), to which it is a state party.
We are looking forward to the absolute withdrawal of all charges against Can Dündar.
Yours sincerely,
Jørgen Lorentzen
Member of Writers in Prison Committee
PEN Norway
COPY:
The Embassy of Turkey in Oslo
The Norwegian Ministry of Foreign Affairs
