From the AP:
By SUZAN FRASER Associated Press Writer
© 2005 The
Associated Press
"ISTANBUL, Turkey — The presiding judge halted the trial
of Turkey's best-known novelist Friday, saying the court would need the approval
of the Justice Ministry for the trial to proceed.
Orhan Pamuk is accused
of insulting Turkey's national identity, a free speech case that has divided the
nation.
He faces up to three years in prison for saying to a Swiss
newspaper in February that Turkey is unwilling to deal with painful episodes in
its treatment of the country's Armenian minority or its continuing problems with
its 12 million Kurdish citizens.
Turkish novelist's trial halted
The trial of Turkish novelist Orhan Pamuk, charged with insulting the
national identity, was halted when the judge said the court would need the
approval of the Justice Ministry to proceed.
The case has led to
widespread criticism from the European Union, and the case is seen as a test of
Turkey's commitment to European standards of free speech. ......"
See, I can sit here and say: THE US SUCKS WITH RACIAL EQUALITY AND HUMAN RIGHTS!. or GEORGE BUSH IS ONE CHROMOSOME AWAY FROM AN ORANGUTAN ..(although I think that is actually insulting the orangutan).. And not have to go to jail or to trial for "insulting the national identity"... Gotta love the 1st Ammendment :)
How can Turkey hope to join the EU when it will not even discuss the horrible dark periods of it's history? The US can not progress until it addresses it's deep seeded racial inequality and backwards thinking when it comes to human rights, or it's open and (even worse) hidden descrimination against gays and lesbians and neither can Turkey progress unless it recognizes the mistakes it has made specifically with respect to genocide, women's rights, treatment of gays etc.
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