No Acquittal For Canan Arın, Case Suspended

An Antalya court suspended the trial of Canan Arın - advocate and founder of Mor Çatı women organization who was charged with “insulting Prophet Mohammed and President Abdullah Gül - providing that she will not be sued over the same charges for the next 3 years. She was charged for a prison sentence up to 5 years. The suspension decision was taken according to the third judicial package. 

“I should have been acquitted instead. It was my expectation. I am not satisfied with the outcome,” Arın said after the hearing. 

The court also overturned its former decision to have lawyers from Antalya Bar Association join the trial. 

What happened? 

During a conference organized by Antalya Bar Association between December 3-4, 2011 on “Violence Against Women and Women Rights Law”, Arın reminded that early marriages was a common practice in Turkey’s history mentioning the marriages of Prophet Mohammed and President Abdullah Gül. 

A group of male advocates filed lawsuits against Arın for “insulting the islamic prophet” and were granted to become a plaintiff by the court as they were “muslim”. 

Judicial advisory studies conducted by academicians from Galatasaray and  Yeditepe University, as well as Prof. Dr Nur Centel found no evidence of crime in Arın’s statement. 

Last week, 85 women worldwide organizations from 31 countries released a statement supporting Canan Arın and wrote a letter to President Abdullah Gül to bring awareness on the issue on an international level. (ÇT/BM)