Country of origin information report Turkey March 2007

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Penal code
10.32 The Amnesty International (AI) annual Turkey report 2005 noted:
“Many significant changes were introduced in 2004. All references to the death penalty were removed from the Constitution and the Penal Code. The new legislation included a new Penal Code. All of these laws contained positive developments and were often less restrictive than their predecessors. For example, the new Penal Code removed many articles which discriminated on grounds of gender and introduced a definition of torture that was closer to that laid down in international law. However, many of these new laws carried over provisions from the old ones that had been used to unnecessarily restrict fundamental rights. In addition, implementation of legislative changes was often uneven and in some cases appeared to be resisted by state officials.” [12k]
10.33 The European Commission report 2005 report stated:
“The entry into force of the Penal Code, adopted in December 2004, was postponed until 1 June 2005 due to concerns about the provisions concerning both organised crime and freedom of expression. In general, the Code adopts modern European standards in line with criminal law in many European countries. However, despite the introduction of a number of amendments by Parliament, concerns remain regarding articles which may be used to restrict freedom of expression.” [71d]
10.34 As stated by the European Commission report 2005 “The new Penal Code contains provisions which strengthen the fight against torture and ill-treatment, increasing the term of imprisonment for those convicted of torture or ill-treatment and the statute of limitations, which in the past has allowed cases against alleged perpetrators of torture or ill-treatment to be dropped, is increased from 10 to 15 years.” [71d]
10.35 The EC 2006 report also noted that “With respect to the right to life and, in particular, the abolition of the death penalty, Turkey ratified, in March 2006, the Second Optional Protocol to the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR), which aims to abolish the death penalty. Protocol 13 to the ECHR, which abolishes the death penalty at all times, was ratified in February 2006. Turkey abolished the death penalty in its national legislation, in all circumstances, in 2004.” [71a] (p60)
10.36 The USSD 2005 report noted that:
“Under legislation enacted in June [2005], a judge can bar an attorney from representing a client if the attorney comes under investigation for violating certain articles of the penal code… The government particularly the police and judiciary limited freedom of expression through the use of constitutional restrictions and numerous laws, including articles of the penal code prohibiting insults to the government, the state ‘Turkish identity,’ or the institutions and symbols of the republic… In March [2005] journalists lobbied the government to amend a new draft of the penal code before the legislation became effective. Journalists criticized the legislation for establishing prison sentences for a number of press-related crimes, contradicting the 2004 Press Law. Parliament addressed some of the journalists' concerns by making revisions to the penal code. The revised penal code eliminated some prison sentences, but not all and reduced the prison terms in some cases.” [5b] (Section 1e)
See also Section 15:01 Freedom of Speech and Media