Court delays trial into publisher over French author Apollinaire’s book

ISTANBUL

Sel Publishing Chief Editor İrfan Sancı. Hürriyet Daily News photo by Hasan Altunışık

A local court postponed its ruling in the case re-launched against a Turkish publisher, who has been tried for publishing and translating the book “The Exploits of a Young Don Juan” written by French poet Guillaume Apollinaire.

The Istanbul court delayed the hearing to Dec. 17, awaiting the translation of an earlier European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) decision regarding the suit.

Sel Publishing Chief Editor İrfan Sancı and his translator İsmail Yerguz was acquitted of the charges of “intermediating publishing of vulgar publications” made against them in 2010, but the Supreme Court of appeals was reversed the acquittal verdict, demanding retrial of the case.

Then-quashed acquittal decision has said the book was literary work, citing expert reports.

The ECHR decision asked by the court is actually regarding another case opened against Sancı over another book of the same author, “The Eleven Thousand Rods.” 

Turkey was condemned by the ECHR in a February 2010 decision for violating Article 10 of the European Convention on Human Rights – that concerns freedom of expression – for banning.

The ECHR ruled that censorship of this book “hindered public access to a work belonging to the European literary heritage.