Prison Threat for Translation of International Bestseller

Interpreter Funda Uncu and Ayrıntı Publishing Company owner Hasan Basri Çıplak are facing imprisonment of between six months and three years each for translating and publishing the book "Ölüm Pornosu". The work now subject to a trial is the Turkish translation of Chuck Palahniuk's book "Snuff".

The indictment was prepared by Istanbul Public Prosecutor İsmail Onaran who stated that details on sexual organs were given in almost all sections of the book.

It was said in the indictment that the book had been sent to the Prime Ministerial Board for the Protection of Children from Harmful Publications because it could be obtained by young children since there was no age warning issued for the book.

As the result of the review by the committee, the indictment claimed that the book contained many immoral and non-literary narratives and that the actual weight of the book was laid on sexuality. Therefore, the book was found incompatible with the structure of the public morality and deemed obscene, the indictment read.

The indictment pointed out that the countries' concepts of morality differ from each other and that the book was released without any warning and without taking any precautions to prevent children from reading the book. This, according to the indictment, was sufficient for the constituting of crime.

"Criticizing commoditising of women"

In his defence speech, publisher Çıplak reminded that the author of the book was a world-famous person. Çıplak put forward that the book was not pornography but that it criticized the commoditising of women. He drew attention to the fact that this was the tenth book published by this writer.

Interpreter Uncu said to her defence that this was the eighth book she translated for the publishing company and that she just faithfully performed her job when she was given the book.

In the course of the investigation about the book that was launched on 25 May 2011, interpreter Uncu was supposed to give her statement to the Istanbul Press Prosecution. Uncu was in Bodrum in the south of Turkey at the time. She was called by the police and urged to come to the police station "immediately", otherwise she would be taken by force, she was told. During the interrogation she had been asked questions like "Did you feel ashamed when you translated the book? Are you a model or what?" (NV/VK)

Source: ntvmsnbc.com