A Diyarbakır public prosecutor filed charges last month against Freemuse award winner Tunç over a speech he gave at a festival in August 2009. Artists, human rights activists and scholars signed an appeal asking Turkey to dismiss the court case against Tunç, Freemuse announced through a press release on Thursday. Jens-Peter Bonde, a former senior member of the European Parliament, and Pakistan's world renowned rock musician Salman Ahmad are amongst the signatories.
The letter, sent to Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, said the group is deeply worried about the continuous harassment of their colleague by Turkish authorities and that they “regret that criminalization of opinion remains a key obstacle to the protection of human rights.”
The indictment filed against Tunç stated that the festival held in Siirt province took place on the anniversary of when the Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK) carried out its first terrorist attack in 1984.
Stating that Tunç has at numerous events expressed his belief in a peaceful solution, the letter noted that he has always defended freedom of expression in accordance to international conventions on human rights. “We respectfully request immediate dismissal of the case against Mr. Ferhat Tunç,” the letter asked.
