Prime Minister Racep Tayyip Erdoğan
TC Basbaskanlik
Ankara
Turkey
Fax: +90 312 417 0476

Cemil Cicek
Minister of Justice
TC Adalet Bakanligi
Ankara
Turkey
Fax: + 90 312 417 3954

Copenhagen, 06 December 2005

Your Excellencies,

We, the undersigned artists, members of Freemuse, The World Forum on Music & Censorship, are writing to express our concern over the forthcoming trial against our Turkish colleague, Mr. Ferhat Tunç.

We understand that Ferhat Tunç will be tried on December 28th, 2005, under article 159 of the [former] Turkish Penal Code because he used the phrase “deep judiciary” in an article he wrote to the daily GÜNDEM in 2004.

We are deeply worried about the continuous harassment of our colleague Ferhat Tunç by Turkish Authorities.

We also want to express regret that Turkey continues censoring and prosecuting its artists during a time when Turkey’s Human Rights and Free Expression records are under international scrutiny.

We respectfully request immediate dismissal of the case against Mr. Ferhat Tunç.

We also request a review of Turkish legislation, with the aim of removing any remaining laws that can lead to the imprisonment of artists for practicing their right to free expression.

Thank you for your attention to this matter.

Sincerely

Salman Ahmad, musician, Pakistan/USA
Joelle Khoury, musician, Lebanon

Marcel Khalife, musician, Lebanon/France Nagam Cultural Project
Mark LeVine, musician, USA

Reda Zine, musician, France
Khaled Al Shaykh, musician, Bahrain

Marie Korpe, Executive Director, Freemuse