Turkish gay editor's obscenity trial postponed

15/01/2007 | Writer: KAOS GL

January 15, 2007

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
Tags: human rights