Mar 03, 2007News: Turkish Gay Editor Has Been Acquitted
By vanrozenheim
(Turkey) - 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.
