ISTANBUL, Turkey, Sept. 21 (UPI) -- A court in Istanbul dismissed charges against Turkish writer Elif Shafak, accused of insulting Turkishness in her book "The Bastard of Istanbul."
The Beyoglu Court decided Shafak could not be prosecuted because of insufficient evidence, Zaman.com said Thursday. Shafak, an assistant professor of Near Eastern studies at the University of Arizona in the United States, did not attend the trial.
Attending the hearing were Joost Lagendijk, the Turkey-European Union Joint Parliamentary Commission co-chairman, and members of International Association of Poets, Playwrights, Editors, Essayists, and Novelists, Cihan News Agency said. The European Union has criticized Turkey for its lack of progress regarding freedom of expression for writers and journalists.
Shafak, 35, was sued under the same law as was Orhan Pamuk, one of Turkey's best-known contemporary authors. Charges against him were dismissed as well.
Perihan Magden, another Turkish author and journalist, was acquitted in a case stemming from remarks in her column in a Turkish daily.
