Writer Cezmi Ersöz was acquitted of the case in which he was accused of “alienating people from the military service” in the second hearing of his trial. He was facing three years in prison for his article titled “Askerliğin Dönüşü Güzeldir” (Coming back from the army is beautiful) that appeared in weekly Leman.

Today (October 30), the 2nd Criminal Court of First Instance of Beyoğlu, Istanbul acquitted the writer by ruling, in parallel with the prosecutor, that the article was allowed by the freedom of expression.

Yurdatapan: If only these cases would not be filed

Evaluating the trial to Bianet, Şanar Yurdatapan, spokesperson for the Initiative Against Thought Crime, said, “It would be better if these cases were not filed, but the prosecutors hesitate, since the complaints that lead to these lawsuits come from the General Staff. Today this case resulted in acquittal, but similar cases in different courts and under different judges and prosecutors result in convictions. Unfortunately, we cannot feel happy about these rare positive examples.”

For support, many rights defenders, including Tarık Günersel, President of the Turkish Center for International Writers Association (PEN), Oğuz Sönmez of Anti-War Group, and publisher Müge Sökmen, watched the trial.

Ersöz: No institution can be outside of criticism

In his defense, Ersöz, who was on trial under article 318, said,” In Democratic countries no institution can be outside of criticism. Military is one of these institutions. I too used this right and criticized the points I personally experienced and know about the military.”

The reason for Ersöz’s prosecution  was the following passage:

“Army was the hell for the naïve young people. If I live long enough, I would like to write a novel out of this savagery…Friends who have gone to the army out of helplessness, do not feel bad, if you can at least come back from there with optimistic thoughts about this society - yes, optimistic – then you may realize that this is and will be a much better society without its military and you will console yourself with this thought.” 

Lawsuit against the expression “We will not be anyone’s soldier”

A lawsuit was filed against Sami Görendağ, spokesperson for the Van Anti-Militarist Initiative, for holding a press release to protest the arrest and torture of conscientious objector Mehmet Bal. The formal accusation was the same as Ersöz’s. In addition to Görendağ, Lezgin Botan, Van Branch president of the Education and Science Workers Union (Eğitim-Sen), and Cüneyt Canis, President of the Van Branch of the Human Rights Association, were included in the lawsuit as well.

On June 21, close to thirty people had gathered at the Sanat Street to protest the hardship Mehmet Bal had to experience. (EÖ/TB)