PERSECUTION WATCH:2 Turkish converts face new accusations

ISTANBUL-In a bizarre twist in the criminal prosecution of two Turkish Christians for "insulting Turkish identity," an administrative district authority in Istanbul has ordered the converts from Islam fined for "illegal collection of funds."Hakan Tastan and Turan Topal, facing charges for insulting Turkishness under the nation's notorious Article 301, were summoned to Istanbul's Beyoglu police headquarters on Sunday morning, July 1, just before church services began at the Taksim Protestant Church where Tastan is a member."Three plainclothes policemen were waiting for me at the church," Tastan told Compass Direct News, "saying I was wanted at the police station." With their lawyer out of town, Tastan telephoned Topal, and the two agreed to go to the police station."I thought probably the police were acting on last week's Interior Ministry decree," Tastan told Compass, referring to a June 28 directive sent to all the nation's governors ordering extra security for Turkey's religious minorities in the wake of rising violence against non-Muslims. "But it turned out to be something entirely different."The two Christians were both presented with a separate "penalty" sheet from the security police division linked to the Beyoglu district, ordering each one to pay 600 Turkish lira (US$461) for breaking a civil law.According to the one-page court papers, the two men were guilty of violating section 29 of civil administrative code 2860, which forbids the collection of money without official permission from local district authorities.Evidence of the alleged misdemeanor, the papers noted, was in the hands of authorities in Silivri, 45 miles west of Istanbul, site of the two Christians' trial for allegedly insulting Turkish identity.The men were shown no documents or alleged evidence of the accusations against them."What is this? Just more harassment," Topal told Compass. Both he and Tastan have been subjected to surveillance and even secret filming by Turkish authorities over the past year."This is ridiculous," the men's attorney, Haydar Polat, told Compass July 3. "It has nothing whatever to do with the original case against my clients. Now we will have to open a case against this administrative order within 15 days, and it will take at least a year to get these unsubstantiated charges dropped."
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