charges against orhan pamuk dropped

At last! Cemal Çiçek, the Minister of Justice, yesterday returned the case to the local İstanbul court where it was originally filed, refusing responsibility for the matter and saying the ministry would not pursue the case (which was filed by a local prosecutor, and then kicked upstairs by the local court). There's a Turkish report here, at the daily Radikal.

It remains to be seen how the group of nationalist lawyers and prosecutors responsible for this wave of Article 301 cases will respond. They've succeeded in at least one of their aims--damaging Turkey's relationships and reputation with the EU--but now that the government has disavowed their efforts, I am hoping the effectiveness of Article 301 cases as an intimidation tactic will decline. That said, I'm still worried about the many ongoing cases against other writers, journalists, publishers, and activists that do not receive a fraction of the attention Pamuk's case got. The cases of people like Hrant Dink, Ragip Zarakolu, and Ferhat Tunç are a more crucial barometer of freedom of expression in Turkey--we'll see what happens to persectued writers and artists who do not enjoy the benefit of an international outcry. Still, this is good news, for Pamuk himself and for all of us who hope to see Turkey become a place where human rights are fully realized and protected. With luck, this outcome will leave prosecutors less enthusiastic about filing such charges, and provide further momentum to the campaign remove Article 301 from the Turkish penal code.