Guilty again.

The European Court of Human Rights has found Turkey guilty of violating Article 10 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights for suspending the publication and distribution of nine newspapers and magazines in 2008 and 2009.

Article 10 reads, in part, “Everyone has the right to freedom of expression. This right shall include freedom to hold opinions and to receive and impart information and ideas without interference by public authority and regardless of frontiers.”

Other cases involving Turkish press suspensions have resulted in similar rulings.

An earlier ruling on these closings had underlined that “the practice of banning the future publication of entire periodicals went beyond any notion of ‘necessary’ restraint in a democratic society and, instead, amounted to censorship.”

Perhaps, eventually, Turkish courts will get the message.

– Bill Jones