FLASH NEWS from COMPASS DIRECT Global News from the Frontlines

********** TURKISH CHRISTIAN ACQUITTED OF SLANDER CHARGES Diyarbakir Church Construction Still Stalled by Barbara G. Baker

ISTANBUL, June 27 (Compass) -- A Turkish Christian facing up to a year in jail for an alleged insult against Islam was acquitted yesterday by a criminal court in southeastern Turkey.

Diyarbakir's Fourth Criminal Court ordered all charges dropped against Kemal Timur, a member of a local Protestant Christian congregation arrested two years ago while legally distributing New Testaments in the city.

"We certainly did not expect my acquittal to come yesterday," Timur told Compass from Diyarbakir. His lawyer had advised him not to attend the hearing, he said, since it was expected that his accusers would fail to produce the documents ordered at the last hearing, forcing another delay in the case.

"We had argued at the last hearing that it was unnecessary for the police witnesses who had been transferred to another post to be interviewed by the court," advocate Kadir Pekdemir said. "So the judge changed his mind and dispensed with their missing depositions, ordering the case dismissed."

"This is the Lord's work!" Timur declared happily. "It is a miracle for me and my family," he said.

Timur, 33, was accused of making a slanderous comment against the Muslim prophet Mohammed in May 1999, when he was detained for 24 hours for distributing free New Testaments on a public street.

Turkey's laws on freedom of religious expression allow such distribution activities, although police officials routinely arrest individuals on the basis of an alleged complaint from some "anonymous citizen."

Timur was released without charge after being held overnight and beaten by local police, but six months later, the state prosecutor opened a slander case against him.

Yesterday's acquittal came in the seventh hearing on the case since his trial began on January 30, 2001.

Timur credited the prayers of Christians around the world for his acquittal. Beginning in March, he said, he has received hundreds of letters and cards in many languages from various countries, including Germany, England and the United States. "There have been sacks full of them," he exclaimed, "and every one told me they were praying for me!"

Inquiries regarding Timur's case had come to the Turkish government from a variety of human rights advocacy groups, including the International Sakharov Committee in Denmark and Sign of Hope in Germany. Four foreign observers were among a dozen individuals who attended the last hearing on the case in February.

CHURCH CONSTRUCTION STILL STALLED

Meanwhile, the Protestant congregation to which Timur belongs is still waiting for official permission to finish its nearly completed church building in Diyarbakir. Ordered to stop construction last November over so-called "zoning and building code" violations, the congregation has been sealed out of the premises by government order and forbidden to finish the building's interior.

The three-floor structure is designed to include living accommodations for Pastor Ahmet Guvener and his family, as well as the church's sanctuary and related facilities.

Last month Guvener was put on trial for making "illegal changes" in the architectural plan of the building. At the initial hearing on May 28, Guvener said that it was "very obvious" to the court that his building plans and documents proved that the purpose and required permissions for the construction had been open and complete. "My next hearing is set for October 8," Guvener told Compass, "and I expect it to be the last one."

"It's pure harassment," a recent visitor to the region observed, in describing the criminal charges made against both Guvener and Timur. "But it's not clear exactly where the real objections are coming from at this point."

In the meantime, the Diyarbakir Council for the Protection of Cultural and Natural Riches continues to stall on any official response to the church's revised set of architectural plans, submitted weeks ago for approval. Guvener and his architect have been told the blueprints will be examined at the council's next meeting, set for July 3.

END

***Photos of Kemal Timur, Ahmet Guvener and the unfinished Diyarbakir Protestant Church are available electronically. Contact Compass Direct for pricing and transmittal.

********** Copyright 2002 Compass Direct

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