Writer Yalçın Küçük, an undetained defendant in the Ergenekon trial, has gone to court to demand 10,000 TL compensation (around 4,575 Euros) from writer Sungur Savran, who had criticised him on the mavidefter.org website.

In an article entitled "Who are the real friends of Yalçın Küçük, Veli Küçük or the Zionists?", published on 1 February 2009, Savran criticised Küçük for his appearance on CNN Türk after his police custody and for defending the Ergenekon organisation and attempts at overthrowing the government.

The case was first heard on 9 September, at the Ankara 2nd Civil Court of First Instance. Savran's lawyer Şiar Rişvanoğlu was present, as was Küçük's lawyer Dursun Ermiş.

In a written statement handed to the court, Savran said there was a tradition in the socialist movement to engage in hard-hitting polemics. He said,

"It is up to Yalçın Küçük to try to disprove the claims in the article with evidence. He has hidden this issue, which should be a discussion of opinions, with a legal procedure."

One of the passages that Savran had written reads, "This person talks in the name of the left...He is defending Ergenekon, miltary coups and the bourgeois state in the name of the left."

"On trial for insult or political ideas?"

Savran asked the court, "Am I accused of insulting Yalçın Küçük or am I on trial for my ideas on various political issues and institutions in Turkey? While countless writers have spent months, even years, writing what they want about Ergenekon and coup attempts, do I face a ban?"

Savran accused Küçük of imitating Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, who is known to take people to court for their opinions.

The hearing was postponed to 24 November. Lawyer Rişvanoğlu said in a statement, "There is no statement in Savran's text that can be interpreted as 'insult', even within a bourgeois legal framework. What is tragic is that Küçük, who continuously speaks about his 'professorship', has taken the criticism made from a Marxist point of view and denounced them to the bourgeoisie." (EÖ/AG)