Inmate denied Demirtaş's book on grounds of 'obscene' content

A prison in Turkey's northwestern province of Bolu has described the novel “Efsun,” written by former HDP co-chair Selahattin Demirtaş, as “obscene” and has refused to deliver it to an inmate.

Wednesday January 12 2022 02:10 pm

Duvar English

A prison in Turkey's northwestern province of Bolu evaluated the novel ''Efsun," written by jailed former Peoples' Democratic Party (HDP) co-chair Selahattin Demirtaş, as "obscene."

According to the news of the Mezopotamya Agency, the Bolu prison administration ruled not to deliver Demirtaş's book to the prisoner Mustafa Taştan.

In its decision, the prison board said, "The printed publication should not be given to the convict, as it may endanger the institution's security due to the obscene content of the publication."

Taştan stated that he would object to the decision. In a letter, he said: "The prison administration did not deliver the book of Efsun to me due to denigrating and unfounded reasons, although it was not officially prohibited.

He said that the novel has the approval of the Culture Ministry and that the prison administration's decision is based on “arbitrary and illegal reasons.”

“I have made the necessary legal applications and will follow up on them until the end. This action is an arbitrary decision and a policy of defamation," he said.

Demirtaş's fourth book “Efsun” came out in early October.

The former HDP co-chair faces hundreds of years in prison on charges related to the Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK) - designated a terrorist organization by Ankara - despite a previous European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) ruling that he was imprisoned on political grounds and should be released immediately.