On September 21, Turkish bestselling novelist, Elif Shafak, was acquitted of the charge of “insulting Turkishness” under Article 301 of Turkish Law, which criminalizes insulting the republic. Ms. Shafak, 35, was unable to attend her trial in person as she had given birth to her first child five days earlier. Had Shafak been convicted, she would have faced up to three years in prison because of remarks made by a fictitious character in her most recent novel, The Bastard of Istanbul. The novel, which received positive reaction until Shafak received word of the complaint filed by the head of the nationalist Turkish Lawyers’ Union in June, refers to the deportation and massacre of 1.5 million Armenians in World War I. Over 60,000 copies have been sold in Turkey to date. The English edition will be published by Viking Penguin in 2007.

More than sixty writers have been charged under Article 301 since its introduction in 2005. Shafak’s case was the first in which the prosecutor used the power under the law to request an acquittal. After being acquitted, Shafak said, “I’m happy for myself, but for my country there has to be a more structural change, both in the legal system and in society as a whole.” The director of the writers in prison committee at International PEN, Sara Whyatt, said, “the fact that she’s had to go through this creates a climate of fear and self-censorship which would deter other authors from writing on taboo topics.” Shortly after the verdict, Turkish Prime Minister, Tayyip Erdogan, hinted he was prepared to consider amending Article 301. “Let’s sit down and discuss this (with the opposing parties),” he said, “We have to forge a consensus (on changing the law).”