Turkish Gay Editor Has Been Acquitted
March 10, 2007
In the second and final trial, the judge rejected to sentence Umut Guner, the editor and publisher of a Turkish LBGT magazine from the charges of peddling "pornography" in his publication, Kaos GL Magazine.
The first obscenity trial of Umut Guner, editor of Turkey's only LGBT magazine, Kaos GL, took place on December 28, 2006. The next and the final trial took place on February 28, 2007 where he has been acquitted.
Umut Guner was accused of publishing pornographic issues based on the Turkish Penal Code, Article 226. The criminal code states that "a person who broadcasts or publishes obscene images, printed or audio material or who acts as an intermediary for this purpose shall be sentenced to imprisonment for a term of six months to three years. Guner could have faced up to three years in prison over last summer's issue of the magazine, which critically analyzed the relationship between homosexuality and pornography in articles by several noted Turkish writers.
But the court insisted on considering the magazine obscene and decided that magazine can only be distributed in envelope with a notification on the envelope saying that the magazine can not be sold to the people under 18 years of age. This is a procedure of selling obscene magazines in Turkish law. However since Kaos GL Magazine is not an obscene magazine, they will appeal to the Supreme Court against this justification.
2. CRIMINAL COURT OF FIRST INSTANCE T.R. ANKARA
COURT RECORD
FILE NO: 2006/580
Date of the trial: 28/02/2007
Session No: 2.
Judge: MEHMET NURI OZTURK 24379
Public Prosecutor: YUCEL ILDENIZ 19205
Clerk: MURAT SAVASCI 96494
The second session started on the specified day and hour.
No one was present, the open exercise of jurisdiction proceeded.
It was observed and read that the acting order for witness Mahmut Taner Ceylan was returned. Defence said they had nothing to claim.
THE PROSECUTION DID NOT ASK FOR EXTENDED INVESTIGATION AND CLAIMED THAT:
The accused was sued to be punished under the item 226/2 of the Turkish Penal Code, according to the 7th article of the item it cannot be practised on work which has artistic or literary value under the condition that the access of the children be denied, excluding the 3rd article.
The picture which is the subject of the law suit was declared to have been painted and the text to have been sent by Mahmut Taner Ceylan but he claimed that he had not given permission for the print without protection for the youngsters below 18. It was decided that the magazine be given to the Office of the Attorney General by the printing house on the date of 21/07/2006 and be collected and impounded.
375 magazines were collected on the date of 24/07/2006 from the office of the magazine at the address of Gazi Mustafa Kemal Bulvarı 29/12, 3 magazines were later handed in by an employee of the printing house, Yusuf Uygur. For these kind of publications to be sold, It is necessary that they be put in a sachet which does not show the content and be stamped that it is harmful for the young. The 4th article of the law (no 1117) to protect the youngsters from deleterious publications is organized as such. However, since the magazine had not been put on sale chargeable offence was not committed. Thus, the verdict should be that the accused be acquitted and the magazines under the record of 2006/11631 be returned.
Meanwhile, the accused and his attorney Oya Aydın arrived and the trial proceeded
The practices done in absence were discussed.
The attorney of the accused declared that they agreed with the final decision but rejected the legal ground. She said that It is certain that the magazine is not pornographic when it is evaluated as a whole with the picture and the text which are the subject of the crime and that they demanded these issues be evaluated for the legal ground and the accused be acquitted.
The accused was asked to give his last defence , he said that he agreed with the claims of his attorney and asked for his acquittal.
The accused was asked to say his final words. He asked for acquittal.
The file was studied and the trial was finalised.
PER CURIAM:
The accusation 2006/95 prepared on the date of 18/11/2006 by the Ankara Office of the Attorney General Press Office claims that;
On the 20th page of the Summer 2006 issue of Kaos GL Magazine, of which the accused is both the owner and the director, which is released every two months, there is a text written by Taner Ceylan entitled (Dokunmadan Aşk) “Love without Touch”. Although the text is against pornography, this criminal case against the accused was appealed to our court under the 226/2 item and 11/2 article of the Turkish Penal Code for the reasons that; the text was published with a picture showing two men whose genitals were seen during sexual intercourse, the picture was obscene in a way that does not need expert idea and was pornographic.
In his deposition which was taken during the process of jurisdiction, on the date of 08/02/2007, Mahmut Taner Ceylan claimed that the text which is the subject of the crime was written by himself and the picture published in the magazine was painted by him and the text and the picture were sent to the magazine by him but the picture which is the subject of crime under the protection of youngsters below the age of 18 had been exhibited and he had not given permission to publish the picture without protection for the youngsters below the age of 18.
the picture which is the subject of crime had been exhibited under the protection for the youngsters below 18. Mahmut Taner Ceylan declared under oath that he had not given permission to publish it without protection for youngsters. Under the light of the above and the Supreme Court ruling cases it was decided that the magazine should be published under protection for the youngsters. However, the magazine which is the subject of crime has been collected at the publishing house and 3 were handed in to the Office of the Attorney General the by the owner of the publishing house, Yusuf Uygur.
The magazine which is the subject of crime has been collected before it was distributed Therefore, the legal components of the offence has not been committed. The verdict was given in the direction of the acquittal of the accused.
VERDICT:
It has been decided that;
The accused be acquitted,
The jurisdiction expenses be left on the public,
The 378 Kaos GL magazines which were impounded under the record of 2006/11631 be returned to the accused when the verdict becomes final,
The verdict was read to the accused and his attorney in the presence of the prosecutor, Yücel İldeniz, and the right to appeal to the supreme court within 7 days was recognized.
28/02/2007
Clerk 96494 Judge 24379
T.R. ANKARA 2. CRIMINAL COURT OF FIRST INSTANCE
Trial Date: 28/02/2007 File No : 2006/580
In the second and final trial, the judge rejected to sentence Umut Guner, the editor and publisher of a Turkish LBGT magazine from the charges of peddling "pornography" in his publication, Kaos GL Magazine.
The first obscenity trial of Umut Guner, editor of Turkey's only LGBT magazine, Kaos GL, took place on December 28, 2006. The next and the final trial took place on February 28, 2007 where he has been acquitted.
Umut Guner was accused of publishing pornographic issues based on the Turkish Penal Code, Article 226. The criminal code states that "a person who broadcasts or publishes obscene images, printed or audio material or who acts as an intermediary for this purpose shall be sentenced to imprisonment for a term of six months to three years. Guner could have faced up to three years in prison over last summer's issue of the magazine, which critically analyzed the relationship between homosexuality and pornography in articles by several noted Turkish writers.
But the court insisted on considering the magazine obscene and decided that magazine can only be distributed in envelope with a notification on the envelope saying that the magazine can not be sold to the people under 18 years of age. This is a procedure of selling obscene magazines in Turkish law. However since Kaos GL Magazine is not an obscene magazine, they will appeal to the Supreme Court against this justification.
2. CRIMINAL COURT OF FIRST INSTANCE T.R. ANKARA
COURT RECORD
FILE NO: 2006/580
Date of the trial: 28/02/2007
Session No: 2.
Judge: MEHMET NURI OZTURK 24379
Public Prosecutor: YUCEL ILDENIZ 19205
Clerk: MURAT SAVASCI 96494
The second session started on the specified day and hour.
No one was present, the open exercise of jurisdiction proceeded.
It was observed and read that the acting order for witness Mahmut Taner Ceylan was returned. Defence said they had nothing to claim.
THE PROSECUTION DID NOT ASK FOR EXTENDED INVESTIGATION AND CLAIMED THAT:
The accused was sued to be punished under the item 226/2 of the Turkish Penal Code, according to the 7th article of the item it cannot be practised on work which has artistic or literary value under the condition that the access of the children be denied, excluding the 3rd article.
The picture which is the subject of the law suit was declared to have been painted and the text to have been sent by Mahmut Taner Ceylan but he claimed that he had not given permission for the print without protection for the youngsters below 18. It was decided that the magazine be given to the Office of the Attorney General by the printing house on the date of 21/07/2006 and be collected and impounded.
375 magazines were collected on the date of 24/07/2006 from the office of the magazine at the address of Gazi Mustafa Kemal Bulvarı 29/12, 3 magazines were later handed in by an employee of the printing house, Yusuf Uygur. For these kind of publications to be sold, It is necessary that they be put in a sachet which does not show the content and be stamped that it is harmful for the young. The 4th article of the law (no 1117) to protect the youngsters from deleterious publications is organized as such. However, since the magazine had not been put on sale chargeable offence was not committed. Thus, the verdict should be that the accused be acquitted and the magazines under the record of 2006/11631 be returned.
Meanwhile, the accused and his attorney Oya Aydın arrived and the trial proceeded
The practices done in absence were discussed.
The attorney of the accused declared that they agreed with the final decision but rejected the legal ground. She said that It is certain that the magazine is not pornographic when it is evaluated as a whole with the picture and the text which are the subject of the crime and that they demanded these issues be evaluated for the legal ground and the accused be acquitted.
The accused was asked to give his last defence , he said that he agreed with the claims of his attorney and asked for his acquittal.
The accused was asked to say his final words. He asked for acquittal.
The file was studied and the trial was finalised.
PER CURIAM:
The accusation 2006/95 prepared on the date of 18/11/2006 by the Ankara Office of the Attorney General Press Office claims that;
On the 20th page of the Summer 2006 issue of Kaos GL Magazine, of which the accused is both the owner and the director, which is released every two months, there is a text written by Taner Ceylan entitled (Dokunmadan Aşk) “Love without Touch”. Although the text is against pornography, this criminal case against the accused was appealed to our court under the 226/2 item and 11/2 article of the Turkish Penal Code for the reasons that; the text was published with a picture showing two men whose genitals were seen during sexual intercourse, the picture was obscene in a way that does not need expert idea and was pornographic.
In his deposition which was taken during the process of jurisdiction, on the date of 08/02/2007, Mahmut Taner Ceylan claimed that the text which is the subject of the crime was written by himself and the picture published in the magazine was painted by him and the text and the picture were sent to the magazine by him but the picture which is the subject of crime under the protection of youngsters below the age of 18 had been exhibited and he had not given permission to publish the picture without protection for the youngsters below the age of 18.
the picture which is the subject of crime had been exhibited under the protection for the youngsters below 18. Mahmut Taner Ceylan declared under oath that he had not given permission to publish it without protection for youngsters. Under the light of the above and the Supreme Court ruling cases it was decided that the magazine should be published under protection for the youngsters. However, the magazine which is the subject of crime has been collected at the publishing house and 3 were handed in to the Office of the Attorney General the by the owner of the publishing house, Yusuf Uygur.
The magazine which is the subject of crime has been collected before it was distributed Therefore, the legal components of the offence has not been committed. The verdict was given in the direction of the acquittal of the accused.
VERDICT:
It has been decided that;
The accused be acquitted,
The jurisdiction expenses be left on the public,
The 378 Kaos GL magazines which were impounded under the record of 2006/11631 be returned to the accused when the verdict becomes final,
The verdict was read to the accused and his attorney in the presence of the prosecutor, Yücel İldeniz, and the right to appeal to the supreme court within 7 days was recognized.
28/02/2007
Clerk 96494 Judge 24379
T.R. ANKARA 2. CRIMINAL COURT OF FIRST INSTANCE
Trial Date: 28/02/2007 File No : 2006/580
