TURKEY: COURT ACQUITS THREE CHILDREN INDICTED FOR SINGING

UNCLAS ADANA 000024 SENSITIVE SIPDIS E.O. 12958: N/A TAGS: PGOV PHUM PREL TU IZ SUBJECT: TURKEY: COURT ACQUITS THREE CHILDREN INDICTED FOR SINGING KURDISH SONG REF: A) ANKARA 050; B) ANKARA 719; C) Adana 15 ¶1. (U) The Diyarbakir Heavy Criminal Court on June 19 acquitted three teenagers, who were accused of "making propaganda for a terrorist organisation or its aims" under the anti-terrorism law. The prosecution was brought after the children, who are all members of the Diyarbakir Yenisehir Municipality Children's Choir, sang a Kurdish language anthem Ey Raqip (Hey Rival) at a world music festival in San Francisco in October, 2007. The choir sang songs in a total of nine different languages including a Turkish patriotic song (Ganakkale Marsi). Six other members of the choir who are under 15 years of age are being prosecuted for the same offence at a Children's Court. They are also expected to be acquitted at their hearing July 3. ¶2. (SBU) The court agreed to acquit at the request of the prosecutor. The children's lawyer, Baran Pamuk, told us he was happy with the acquittal, but noted that the court found that the children did not knowingly commit a crime, leaving unanswered whether singing the song in fact constituted a crime. Pamuk said he fears that the adult choir instructor, Duygu Vzge Bayar (who was named in the original indictment) will be prosecuted upon her return to Turkey. Comment -------------- ¶3. (SBU) Since the suit was filed in January, the political context has evolved: Turkey's relations with Iraq (including the Kurdish administration in the North) have improved considerably; the Turkish parliament has mandated Kurdish-language broadcasting on the state television network and it has modified article 301, a statute frequently used to limit political speech. These factors, in addition to a minor outcry in the international human rights community led by Amnesty International, probably influenced the court's decision. GREEN