Shafak acquitted
Finally, another farce of a trial is over with, and the author in question won’t have to face any jail or punishment time. Earlier in the year it was Orhan Pamuk; now it’s Elif Shafak‘s turn to go through the proverbial ringer only to emerge acquitted for the charge of “insulting Turkishness” on the grounds of lack of evidence. Shafak, who gave birth to her first child this past Sunday, was unable to attend the hearing. The Guardian’s Nicholas Birch did attend, however, musing that Shafak’s trial began and ended with a thunderstorm.
Associated Press reported that angry nationalist protesters briefly clashed with police outside the courtroom after the ruling. “We want a country where people are not interrogated because of their novels,” Muge Sokmen, Ms Shafak’s publisher, told AP. “Her acquittal gives happiness, it is relieving. As the public, we need to be more tolerant to the thoughts of others.” And Turkey’s government really ought to stop putting its writers through the ridiculousness of such charges and trials, too…
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