August 12, 2010 by sks
The date for the next hearing in the case against musician and Freemuse Award winner Ferhat Tunç has been set to 30 September 2010//
also Court sentences band members to 10 months imprisonment for Kurdish song
The Diyarbakir Criminal Court oversaw the first hearing on 28 July and has announced that it will proceed the case against Ferhat Tunç on 30 September.
In the latest of a number of cases against the musician, he will be tried for his public remarks made at a concert during a Nature, Culture and Arts Festival held in the eastern city of Siirt on 15 August 2009.
He will be tried under article 7/2 of the Anti-Terrorism Law (TMY), and stands accused of “committing a crime on behalf of an organisation without being a member of the organisation” according to article 220/6 of the Turkish Criminal Law (TCK).
On 23 June, Freemuse sent an appeal to the Turkish Prime Minister for the dismissal of the latest court case against Freemuse Award winner, Ferhat Tunç.
Read the Freemuse letter sent to Turkish Prime Minister here
4 August 2010
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Court sentences band members to 10 months imprisonment for Kurdish song
The Malatya Criminal Court in Eastern Turkey has sentenced band members of Grup Munzur to 10 months imprisonment for singing a Kurdish song at a concert held in Hozat on 16 June 2008.
The sentence is the second of its kind to be passed in Eastern Turkey in the past few weeks.
The court argued that band members Özlem Gerçek, Mahir Çelebi and Ercan Duman was disseminating propaganda for a terrorist organisation by performing the song ‘Lexin Gerilla’ states Firat News Agency.
The court based its’ sentence on the lyrics of the particular song: “This song tells about the mountains, on the barricades, fields, plains, revolution and freedom struggle and martyrdom for a nice community where children want to read” (rough translation), reported the Dersim News Agency.
The particular Kurdish dialect used in the song required assistance from numerous translation experts who after some confusion confirmed that the song also included the following words:’Guerrillas’, ’shoot’, ‘Kurdistan’ and ‘victim’.
The sentence comes only a few weeks after Turkish singer Cevdet Bacga was given a similar sentence for comments made at concert in the eastern city of Siirt in 2009.
Turkey
Firat News Agency– 20 July 2010:
‘Singing Kurdish still requires imprisonment’
Dersim News Agency– 19 July 2010:
‘Grup Munzur Üyelerine 10 Ay Hapis Cezasi’ (in Turkish)
