Counterpunch, May 2, 2007 Criminalizing Art Trouble in Turkey
By MICHAEL DICKINSON I was in court again last week, summoned in connection with the Turkish Penal Code (TCK) Article 301 charge of 'insulting Turkishness' by displaying a couple of collage pictures I had made of the Turkish Prime Minister, Recip Tayyip Erdogan last year, depicting him as a pet dog of America. I was surprised at the sudden summons (brought to my door by a plain-clothes policeman). Having being held in police custody for 10 days last September, and then suddenly released, I'd presumed that the case was over. . Apparently not; and when I went with my lawyer to the courthouse, there was my name on the list as the accused; the plaintiff: Tayyip Erdogan. The foyer on the second floor was crowded with folk, some in handcuffs with guards, waiting to have their cases heard by the judges in their little courtrooms. (There is no jury system in Turkey. Decisions are made by a board of judges or a sole judge depending on the nature of the case.) My case was to be heard at 11-30, but because of a power cut, it was adjourned until afternoon. When my lawyer and I returned from lunch, there was a street dog lying streched out asleep on the pavement in front of the entrance to the courthouse. Ironic. The hearing lasted about 45 minutes. In my defense I said that my pictures had not meant to be personally insulting to Tayyip Erdogan, but to show his position as a close friend and ally of George W Bush, and the fact that 90 nuclear bombs are stored on Turkish soil at the American airbase in Incilik. full: http://www.counterpunch.org/dickinson05022007.html -- www.marxmail.org
