His Excellency Mesut Yilmaz
Prime Minster of the Republic of Turkey
Prime Minister’s Office
Ankara
Turkey

Vienna, 17 June 1998

Your Excellency,

The International Press Institute (IPI), the global network of editors and media executives, strongly condemns the jailing of veteran Turkish journalist Ragip Duran.

Duran, a well-respected journalist who has worked for several Turkish newspapers, as well as the British Broadcasting Corporation, Agence France-Presse, and the French daily Liberation, began serving a 10-month sentence on Tuesday, 16 June, for violating Article 7 of Turkey’s Anti-Terror Law.

His conviction stems from an article, entitled “Apo 91/Ocalan 94,” which appeared in the now defunct daily Özgür Gündem on 12 April 1994 and portrayed Abdullah Ocalan, leader of the outlawed Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK), as a thoughtful figure who might be a Kurdish Garibaldi, referring to the 19th century Italian nationalist and revolutionary. The Supreme Court in Ankara confirmed on 23 October 1997 the decision of the Istanbul State Security Court No. 5 on 19 December 1994 to send Duran to prison for 10 months and fine him approximately US$ 1,300. On 16 February 1998, a state prosecutor granted him a four-month postponement of his sentence.

IPI believes that the jailing of Duran is a flagrant violation of everyone’s right to freedom of opinion and expression, as guaranteed by Article 19 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. We therefore urge Your Excellency to do everything in your power to ensure that he is released immediately and unconditionally and call on the Turkish government to initiate legal reforms of laws under which Turkish journalists can be imprisoned for what they write.

We thank you for your attention.

Yours sincerely,

Johann P. Fritz
Director