Turkish author found not guilty of insulting national identity News
Turkish author found not guilty of insulting national identity

[JURIST] Turkish writer Ipek Calislar was found not guilty Tuesday of "insulting the Turkish identity" in violation of Article 301 [Amnesty backgrounder] of the country's penal code. Calislar went on trial [JURIST report] in October for writing that the founder of modern Turkey, Mustafa Kemal Ataturk, once left his palace disguised as a woman to evade an assassination attempt. He faced over four years in prison if convicted.

Calislar is one of several writers to be accused of Article 301 violations. Turkish novelists Elif Shafak [personal website], Hrant Dink and Orhan Pamuk [JURIST news archive] have all been charged under Article 301 for discussing the alleged Armenian genocide. Shafak was acquitted and Pamuk's charges were dismissed [JURIST reports], while Dink faces a retrial [JURIST report].

THIS DAY @ LAW

Mayflower Compact signed

On November 11, 1620, 41 Pilgrims signed the Mayflower Compact, creating a civil government for Plymouth Colony.

Armistice signed, ending WWI

On November 11, 1918 at 11:00 AM, the Allied Powers signed an armistice with Germany, ending World War I. Armistice Day is marked every year in Europe on the "eleventh hour of the eleventh day of the eleventh month" with two minutes of silence.

Indictments announced in Lockerbie bombing

On November 11, 1991, prosecutors from the United States and the United Kingdom announced their indictments in the bombing of a passenger airplane over Lockerbie, Scotland. A Scottish court convicted Abdelbaset Ali Mohmed Al Megrahi, allegedly a former Libyan intelligence official, of the 270 murders in 2001. Read documents from the Lockerbie bombing trial.