Jan 15, 2007News: Turkish gay editor's obscenity trial postponed
By vanrozenheim
(Turkey) - The obscenity trial of Umut Guner, editor of Turkey's only gay magazine, Kaos GL, was postponed on December 28, 2006. The next trial will take place on February 28, 2007.
All copies of the issue were confiscated by police in July after the public prosecutor's Press Crimes Investigation Bureau sought and received approval for the seizure from Ankara's 12th Justice Court. The Supreme Court later upheld the decision, which also was later backed by the Ankara First Instance Criminal Court. Kaos GL has said it will appeal the seizure and the criminal charges to the European Court of Human Rights.
Guner could face 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.
The court decided to call Taner Ceylan as witness. A large part of the indictment focuses on Taner Ceylan’s painting, “Taner Taner”, which had been presented in many previous exhibitions well before it was included in the magazine. The public prosecutor deemed the painting as "pornographic".
The next trial will take place on February 28, 2007.
Kaos GL is a LGBT organization and a legally registered non-governmental organization that publishes a bi-monthly magazine to completely cover Turkey. Please refer any questions to: news@kaosgl.com and refer to the web site for information: http://news.kaosgl.com/
