Turkey: Prisoners punished for singing political slogans

The Ankara Penal Authority Discipline Board penalized 63 prisoners in Sincan Prison for chanting slogans and singing on 1 May 2011, reported Antenna-Turkey in its Freedom of Expression Weekly Bulletin of 24 June 2011. Six prisoners received a month of ban for visitors and 57 were banned from receiving communication and information media. The case of the 63 prisoners in Sincan Prison is now being investigated. The inmates appealed stating that singing on 1 May is not a crime. The Turkish state accepts 1 May as a public holiday and that it is celebrated with songs and slogans all over the world, the defendants counselor Evrim Deniz Karatana commented on what he termed an unnecessary and arbitrary sentencing.

Source

Antenna-tr.org – 24 June 2011:
Weekly Freedom of Expression Bulletin (No 25 – 2011)