In 2010 charges were filed against translator İsmail Yerguz and Istanbul based publishing house Sel Yayınları for their assistance to spread obscene texts. The books at stake were the Turkish editions of the two French novels: ‘Correspondance d’une Bourgeoise Avertie’ (Görgülü ve Bilgili bir Burjuva Kadının Mektupları) by P.V. and ‘Les Exploits d’un Jeune Don Juan’ (Genç Bir Don Juan’ın Maceraları) by Guillaume Apollinaire. In the third hearing (http://www NULL.ceatl NULL.eu/?p=1289) in December 2010, the translator and the publishing house, represented by chief editor İrfan Sancı, were acquitted of all charges.
Recently, however, the High Court of Appeals reversed the judgment with regard to the translation and publication of Apollinaire’s novel ‘Correspondance d’une Bourgeoise Avertie’ and reopened the case at the Second Criminal Court of First Instance in Istanbul. The first hearing was held on 12 September 2013.
During the hearing similar charges against the Turkish edition of one of Apollinaire’s other works were brought to the attention of the court: Les Onze Milles Verges (‘Onbin Bir Kırbaç’), published by Hades in 1999, which at the time was also accused of being obscene. In 2010 the European Court of Human Rights ruled that the Turkish verdict violated the freedom of expression as formulated in the European Declaration of Human Rights, and that the penalty and confiscation imposed by the Turkish court were disproportionate and unnecessary in a democratic country. In the recent hearing on 12 September it was put forward that the trial and sentence of another title of the same writer will only result in another conviction of Turkey by the European Court of Human Rights.
The second hearing is scheduled for Thursday 7 November 2013, 10:30h.