Law No. 5816 (Law on Crimes Committed Against Atatürk)

What is Law No. 5816?

Türkiye Cumhuriyeti’nin kurucusu ve ilk Cumhurbaşkanı Mustafa Kemal ATATÜRK’e karşı işlenecek suçları düzenleyen bir yasadır. Bu kanun, 25 Temmuz 1951 tarihinde kabul edilmiş ve 31 Temmuz 1951 tarihinde yürürlüğe girmiştir¹.

5816 Sayılı Kanunun Amacı ve İçeriği

The main purpose of the law is to punish acts of disrespect towards ATATÜRK's memory. It was enacted by the Democrat Party government, particularly in response to the increasing attacks on ATATÜRK's statues and busts.²The content of the law is as follows:

• Anyone who publicly insults or swears at the memory of ATATÜRK shall be punished with imprisonment from one year to three years.
• Anyone who destroys, breaks, damages or defiles a statue, bust or monument representing ATATÜRK, or ATATÜRK's tomb, shall be sentenced to imprisonment from one year to five years.
• Anyone who incites others to commit the above crimes shall be punished as the principal perpetrator.
• If the crimes written in the first article are committed by two or more people collectively, or in public or open to the public places, or through the press, the penalty to be imposed is increased by half.
• If the crimes written in the second paragraph of the first article are committed by force or attempted to be committed in this way, the penalty to be imposed is doubled.³.

Implementation and Effects of Law No. 5816

Crimes committed against ATATÜRK are prosecuted ex officio by the Public Prosecutor's Offices. And it is carried out by the Ministry of Justice^[1]. Kanunun uygulanması, özellikle internet üzerindeki içeriklerde ATATÜRK’e hakaret içeren videoların kaldırılması gibi durumlarda etkili olmuştur. Örnek olarak 2007 yılında YouTube’a Türkiye’den erişim, bu kanun çerçevesinde engellenmiştir. 2010 yılında ilgili içeriklerin kaldırılmasıyla erişim engeli kaldırılmıştır.

Criticisms of Law No. 5816

Law No. 5816 has been criticized for interfering with freedom of expression and contradicting the fundamental standards of the EU. International organizations such as Journalists Without Borders have claimed that the law damages freedom of the press.

Bu paylaşım 5816 sayılı kanunun genel bir özetini sunmaktadır. Daha fazla bilgi için, kanun metnini¹ ve ilgili yargı kararlarını incelemek faydalı olacaktır.

Source

1. Mevzuat Bilgi Sistemi mevzuat.gov.tr [PDF][↩][↩]
2. Hürriyet[↩]
3. Wikipedia[↩]