| PRAYER: Update on legal cases in Turkey |
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Posted on 24th February 2010
Greetings in the name of Jesus, our great High Priest Turkish Christians have requested our continued prayers for several legal cases in their country. Our most recent prayer request concerning Hakan and Turan, two Turkish Christians facing a court case, was issued on 19th October. Their latest hearing was on 28th January. None of the three prosecution witnesses called to testify were present. One apologised for absence due to illness, a second failed to appear, and the third could not be located, despite being described as a member of the armed forces. The hearing was adjourned until 25th May. The witness who was ill has been summoned to appear. The second witness has been ordered to submit his “eyewitness” testimony in writing to his local criminal court, to be forwarded to the court hearing the case. The third witness will not be called again. Recall that Hakan and Turan were charged in October 2006 with “insulting Turkishness” and defamation of Islam, following involvement in a local Bible correspondence course. In January this year the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe reaffirmed its position that Article 301 of the Turkish Penal Code, the basis of the “insulting Turkishness” charge, continues to violate Article 10 of the European Convention on Human Rights, despite amendments made in 2008. The trial also continues of the five men charged with the murder of three Christians in Malatya, south-eastern Turkey, in April 2007. Prosecuting and plaintiff attorneys continue working to expose those who instigated the murders. They recently met with the prosecution lawyers handling what is known as the Ergenekon criminal case. Ergenekon is a clandestine ultra-nationalist programme that has allegedly sought to destabilize the government through a series of violent incidents. The Malatya lawyers requested that links be investigated between the Malatya perpetrators and some of those arrested under Ergenekon. They are confident that the cases will be linked in due course, but recognise that the Ergenekon lawyers have a huge amount of evidence to assimilate and evaluate. At a hearing in Malatya on Friday 19th the court revealed that a copy of an indictment into illegal weapons found in Istanbul in 2009 had been received and added to the case file. Defence lawyers asked for it to be removed as having no possible connection. However, prosecution lawyers noted that those arrested concerning the weapons had links with the Malatya defendants, and that a report prepared for the Istanbul Police Department Counter-terrorism Division stated that there was material in the indictment relevant to the Malatya trial. In a separate development, the European Court of Human Rights ruled on 2nd February that Turkey should change its identity card system to remove religious affiliation. The current practice allows citizens to change their identity card to state the religion of their choice, or to leave this section blank. However, members of religious minorities believe that the system leads to discrimination against them, including the loss of jobs. Turkish Christians request our continued prayers that: a. Hakan, Turan and their families will know the daily strength and peace of Jesus b. Their next hearing will be conducted fairly and lead to their acquittal c. Article 301 of Turkey’s Penal Code will be repealed d. Family members and friends of the Malatya victims will continue to know the peace of Jesus as the trial process continues e. Justice will be done concerning the perpetrators, and that those behind them will be identified f. The identity card system will be promptly changed in accordance with the European Court ruling g. The Church across Turkey will be emboldened, not intimidated, by these ongoing legal processes h. All judges, other officials, lawyers and journalists involved will hear the gospel of Jesus, feel the Spirit’s conviction of sin and be drawn to the Father’s love, forgiveness and acceptance
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