Turkish freedom of expression trial adjourned until February News
Turkish freedom of expression trial adjourned until February

[JURIST] The trial of Turkish novelist Orhan Pamuk [TIME profile] for slander against the state was adjourned Friday until February 7, 2006 to give Turkey's Justice Ministry time to decide if the case is in line with judicial procedures after a prosecutorial request. Under Turkish law, individual rights can be restricted to preserve the "integrity of the state" and Pamuk was accused after making unfavorable remarks to a Swiss newspaper about Turkey's stance related to the mass killings of Armenians. Pamuk is charged under article 301 [Amnesty backgrounder] of the revised Turkish penal code [JURIST report] but his remarks were made before the new code became law. He could be sentenced to three years in jail. The case has raised concern among European Union [official website] members, and on Thursday, European Parliament member Camil Eurlins said that if Turkey wants to become part of the EU, it will need to incorporate freedom of expression into its laws. The EU has previously warned [JURIST report; EU report] Turkey that its pending membership in the EU is dependent on it ending torture [JURIST report] and stabilizing its human rights situation. Recently Turkish Foreign Minister Abdullah Gul [official website, English version] criticized the case [JURIST report] as a "public denigration of Turkish identity" arguing that the trial does not seek to extend greater individual rights to citizens, including freedom of religion and expression. Reuters has more.

THIS DAY @ LAW

Thomas Becket, former Chancellor of England, murdered by Henry II's knights

On December 29, 1170, Archbishop Thomas Becket, former Chancellor of England, was murdered in Canterbury Cathedral by knights acting in the name of Henry II.

Becket and Henry had been entangled in a power struggle over, among other things, criminal jurisdiction over clergy. Read a contemporary account of the murder of Thomas Becket.

Texas attains US statehood

On December 29, 1845, Texas became the twenty-eighth state to join the United States of America when US President James K. Polk signed the Ordinance of Annexation. Texas had a complicated path to statehood because it had formerly been part of Mexico and then an independent republic. The US Congress passed the Annexation of the Republic of Texas Joint Resolution on March 1, 1845. Voters in Texas then approved the Ordinance of Annexation in October, before it was approved by the US Congress and signed into law by President Polk on this day in 1845. The US Supreme Court later ruled in Texas v. White that, despite its unique path to statehood, Texas did not have the right to secede from the union.