Local Journalist On Trial For Insult

The prosecution in Sarköy (province of Tekirdag in Thrace) has demanded ten years imprisonment for journalist Yakup Önal of the local "Şarköy'ün Sesi" ("The Voice of Şarköy) newspaper for insulting mayor Can Gürsoy of the Justice and Development Party (AKP) and two municipal council members, Olcay Yücel and Ercan Yücel.

Önal had written an article entitled "Fairy tales for adults- Pinocchio and the nine dwarves".

The suits of two other plaintiffs, Afat Gürsoy and Ilyas Inanc were rejected by the prosecution, based on Articles 125/3-a and 126 of the penal code.

The court case will continue on 31 October. The court will decide whether to invite a technical expert to the next hearing.

The case had initially been handled by prosecutor Tamer Soysal. On his transferal to Diyarbakir, the case had been taken over by prosecutor Hüseyin Kocaslan.

Acquitted in an earlier case

Soysal had appealed against the acquittal of the journalist in an earlier case (14 March), related to an article entitled, "Beer drinkers in blue-flagged Sarköy, beware!"

In that case, Önal had been on trial for "violating the secrecy of an investigation" and "attempting to influence the judiciary".

Previous decision appealed against

The present case has been continuing for some time. On 21 November 2006, the Şarköy civil court of first instance had decided that the journalist had "gone beyond the limits of criticism" in his article about the fairy tales. However, it had not demanded any compensation payments.

The court had called on Önal to "end the unfair attacks" on mayor Gürsoy and had decided that the decree be published in the Sarköy newspaper in order that "third persons be informed" (Aticle 25/2 of the civil code). Önal had appealed against the decision.

Pinocchio and the nine dwarves...

Local authorities had argued that they were designated in the fairy tales published in the culture and art pages of the newspaper and have demanded up to 21 years in prison in six court cases.

The newspaper had started a series called "President Pinocchio and the nine dwarves" on 20 July 2005. The story started, "Once upon a time...in a country, there was a president called Pinocchio in a coastal town called Sarki. Pinocchio had nine dwarves who approved all of his decisions like a suction pump." (EÖ/EÜ/AG)