9-inch copter lands in arms of Ohio court statue

MARION, Ohio (AP) ? An unwanted modern addition has flown into the arms of a Lady Justice statue that sits atop a county courthouse in north-central Ohio.

A 9-inch, remote-control helicopter flew into Lady Justice on the Marion County Courthouse on April 27 and has been there since ? resting on the hilt of her sword more than 100 feet high.

Video producer Terry Cline tells the Marion Star (http://ohne.ws/YdwsPA) that he was using the $1,500 camera-equipped helicopter to shoot a promotional video for the city when it was caught by an unexpected breeze.

Since then, Cline has been trying figure out how to get the helicopter back.

County officials say they won't pay to remove it or risk anyone's life for it.

For now, Lady Justice gets to keep her new toy.

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/9-inch-copter-lands-arms-ohio-court-statue-164837391.html

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Benetton On Bangladesh Tragedy: No One In The Industry Should Feel Above It

Italian apparel retailer Benetton initially denied any connection to the factory that collapsed in Bangladesh killing more than 500 people, but since then photos of the brand's clothing in the building's rubble have emerged.

"This is such a tragedy that no one in the industry should feel above it," Benetton CEO Biagio Chiarolanza said in a statement to The Huffington Post on Friday. "As such, Benetton will make funds available to the victims of the families as every member of our industry has a moral obligation to intervene in their support."

Benetton said it's working with global non-profit organizations like the International Labor Organization to figure out how to facilitate a "significant and lasting improvement" in workers' conditions in Bangladesh.

Chiarolanza's statement comes a day after Galen Weston, the executive chairman of Canadian apparel retailer Loblaw, condemned the "deafening silence" from other apparel retailers in the aftermath of the tragedy. Loblaw owns clothing brand Joe Fresh, which confirmed it had goods made at one of the factories in the doomed Rana Plaza factory.

Benetton's first statement following the collapse on April 24 claimed, "none of the companies involved are suppliers to Benetton Group or any of its brands."

Five days later, Quartz reported that shirts bearing Benetton labels were found in the building's rubble, forcing Benetton to clarify its relationship with the manufacturers in Rana Plaza. The company said in a statement April 29 that a "one-time order" was completed and shipped out from one of the manufacturers in the building, but it was "several weeks prior" to the building's collapse.

Then, on April 30, Benetton said that one of its suppliers had "occasionally subcontracted" orders from one of the manufacturers in Rana Plaza. Throughout all of this, the company has reiterated multiple times that none of the factories inside the building was a supplier to any of Benetton's brands at the time of its collapse.

"Prior to the accident, that manufacturer had already been permanently removed from the list of potential direct or indirect suppliers," Benetton said in the statement on the 30th. "In fact, it had come to light that it no longer met the stringent standards that would have made it eligible to even potentially work for us."

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Source: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/05/04/benetton-bangladesh-factory_n_3216045.html

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Police say they didn't release Witherspoon video

AAA??May. 3, 2013?9:06 AM ET
Police say they didn't release Witherspoon video
AP

This image released by ABC news shows co-host George Stephanopoulos, left, interviewing actress Reese Witherspoon on "Good Morning America," Thursday, May 2, 2013 in New York. During the interview, Witherspoon repeatedly apologized for her behavior during an April 19 traffic stop in Georgia. Witherspoon, 37, was arrested after the trooper said she wouldn't stay in the car while her husband, Hollywood agent Jim Toth, was given a field sobriety test. Toth was charged with drunken driving and is due in court May 23. Witherspoon faces a May 22 court hearing on the disorderly conduct charge. (AP Photo/ABC, Ida Mae Astute)

This image released by ABC news shows co-host George Stephanopoulos, left, interviewing actress Reese Witherspoon on "Good Morning America," Thursday, May 2, 2013 in New York. During the interview, Witherspoon repeatedly apologized for her behavior during an April 19 traffic stop in Georgia. Witherspoon, 37, was arrested after the trooper said she wouldn't stay in the car while her husband, Hollywood agent Jim Toth, was given a field sobriety test. Toth was charged with drunken driving and is due in court May 23. Witherspoon faces a May 22 court hearing on the disorderly conduct charge. (AP Photo/ABC, Ida Mae Astute)

This image released by ABC news shows co-host George Stephanopoulos, left, interviewing actress Reese Witherspoon on "Good Morning America," Thursday, May 2, 2013 in New York. During the interview, Witherspoon repeatedly apologized for her behavior during an April 19 traffic stop in Georgia. Witherspoon, 37, was arrested after the trooper said she wouldn't stay in the car while her husband, Hollywood agent Jim Toth, was given a field sobriety test. Toth was charged with drunken driving and is due in court May 23. Witherspoon faces a May 22 court hearing on the disorderly conduct charge. (AP Photo/ABC, Ida Mae Astute)

This image released by ABC news shows co-host George Stephanopoulos, left, interviewing actress Reese Witherspoon on "Good Morning America," Thursday, May 2, 2013 in New York. During the interview, Witherspoon repeatedly apologized for her behavior during an April 19 traffic stop in Georgia. Witherspoon, 37, was arrested after the trooper said she wouldn't stay in the car while her husband, Hollywood agent Jim Toth, was given a field sobriety test. Toth was charged with drunken driving and is due in court May 23. Witherspoon faces a May 22 court hearing on the disorderly conduct charge. (AP Photo/ABC, Ida Mae Astute)

This image released by ABC news shows co-host George Stephanopoulos, left, interviewing actress Reese Witherspoon on "Good Morning America," Thursday, May 2, 2013 in New York. During the interview, Witherspoon repeatedly apologized for her behavior during an April 19 traffic stop in Georgia. Witherspoon, 37, was arrested after the trooper said she wouldn't stay in the car while her husband, Hollywood agent Jim Toth, was given a field sobriety test. Toth was charged with drunken driving and is due in court May 23. Witherspoon faces a May 22 court hearing on the disorderly conduct charge. (AP Photo/ABC, Ida Mae Astute)

FILE - In this April 21, 2013 file photo, Actress Reese Witherspoon attends the premiere of "Mud" hosted by The Cinema Society?with FIJI Water & Levi's at the Museum of Modern Art in New York. Witherspoon recalls that she panicked and said "crazy things" the night she was arrested in Atlanta on a disorderly conduct charge. During an interview on Good Morning America, Thursday, May 2, 2013, Witherspoon repeatedly apologized for her behavior during the April 19 traffic stop. (Photo by Evan Agostini/InvisionAP)

ATLANTA (AP) ? The Georgia State Patrol says it did not release the video from a state trooper's dash-camera showing a combative Reese Witherspoon confronting the officer during a traffic stop in Atlanta.

The video was first obtained by the celebrity website TMZ and rebroadcast by other news media. Witherspoon was arrested on a charge of disorderly conduct.

Georgia State Patrol spokesman Gordy Wright said Friday that the video would be officially released soon. He told The Associated Press no one from his agency leaked the video, and the only copy that had been made earlier was for the prosecutor.

The video shows Witherspoon asking the trooper, "Do you know my name" and then adding, "You're about to find out who I am."

The actress later apologized for her behavior.

Associated Press

Source: http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/4e67281c3f754d0696fbfdee0f3f1469/Article_2013-05-03-Reese%20Witherspoon%20Arrest/id-63c0e7a56030491f8426a4101d7fca1b

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HP Officejet Pro 251dw Printer

The HP Officejet Pro 251dw Printer is a definitive step up in HP's Officejet Pro family from the Editors' Choice HP Officejet Pro 8100 ePrinter. It offers essentially identical paper handling and speed with noticeably better looking text and graphics plus support for PCL and Postscript. If you use an application that requires one of these print languages, having them is a critical addition. But even if you don't need them, the higher-quality output makes the 251dw a better fit than the 8100 if you care more about output quality than initial cost.

As with the 8100, the 251dw's balance of paper handling, speed, and network support makes it an obvious fit for a micro office or small workgroup with medium to heavy-duty print needs. It can also serve as a personal printer for particularly heavy-duty use. However, given the size, at 9.4 by 19.5 by 18.1 inches (HWD), you may not want to share a desk with it.

The 251dw comes with a 250-sheet tray and duplexing standard, which should be enough for most micro or small offices. If you need more capacity, however, you can add a second 250-sheet tray ($79.99 direct) for a total 500-sheet capacity. Connection options include both Ethernet and Wi-Fi for easy sharing.

The 251dw also offers much the same mobile printing capabilities as the 8100, with support for printing through the cloud and for Apple AirPrint and the HP ePrint App for printing from iThings and other devices. Keep in mind that you can't print through the cloud without connecting the printer to a network that's connected to the Internet. However, the 251dw goes the next step beyond the 8100 by adding support for Wireless Direct, HP's equivalent to Wi-Fi Direct. Even if you don't have a Wi-Fi access point on your network, Wireless Direct will let you print from mobile devices, using a direct connection to the printer.

Setup and Speed
For my tests I connected the 251dw to a wired network and installed the drivers on a Windows Vista system. Setup was absolutely typical. The fast speed, however, was a pleasant surprise.

On our business applications suite (using QualityLogic's hardware and software for timing) I clocked the 251dw at 6.0 pages per minute (ppm), making it effectively tied with the 8100, at 5.9 ppm, and just a touch faster than the Editors' Choice Epson WorkForce Pro WP-4020. More significant is that it's well into laser territory for speed. The laser-class Editors' Choice Dell 1350cnw Color LED Printer, for example, managed only 4.9 ppm. It's also fast for photos, averaging 49 seconds for a 4 by 6.

Output Quality and Other Issues
What makes the speed for business applications even more impressive is that the 251dw also did well on output quality for text and graphics. Photos on photo paper weren't in the same class, but were easily good enough for office needs.

Text output doesn't offer quite the crisp edges for characters that you would expect from a laser, and I wouldn't use it for a resume or for serious desktop publishing. However, it's easily good enough for almost any business use. It's also surprisingly water resistant. In my tests, it didn't smudge at all when I rubbed it with a wet tissue.

Graphics quality, similarly, is good enough for any internal business need, up to and including PowerPoint handouts. Even in the default quality mode, most of the pages in our test suite were impressively high quality. Most people would consider them good enough for output going to an important client who they wanted to impress with a sense of their professionalism.

Photos on photo paper weren't in the same class as the text or graphics. They qualified as true photo quality, but at the low end of what you would expect from drugstore prints. That also puts them at the low end of the typical range for an inkjet. Fortunately, this isn't much of an issue for a printer meant for office use.

One last point that demands mention is the 251dw's running cost, at a claimed 1.6 cents per mono page and 7.2 cents for a color page, the same as for the Officejet Pro 8100. More important, however, is that it's significantly lower than the running cost for most inexpensive color laser printers, making the 251dw a lot less expensive to run than a low-cost color laser printer.

If your main concerns are speed and paper handling, you can save a little money by choosing the HP Officejet Pro 8100 ePrinter or Epson WorkForce Pro WP-4020. However, the HP Officejet Pro 251dw Printer delivers essentially the same speed and paper handling and adds better than par output quality plus PCL and Postscript. If you need any of those extras, it's well worth the extra cost.

Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/ziffdavis/pcmag/~3/JgIjHAwEGdc/0,2817,2418336,00.asp

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Chris Kelly of 1990s rap duo Kris Kross dies

In this Feb. 23, 2013 photo, Chris Kelly of Kris Kross performs on stage at the Fox Theatre in Atlanta during the So So Def 20th Anniversary Concert. Kelly, half of the 1990s kid rap duo Kris Kross who made one of the decade's most memorable songs with the frenetic "Jump," died Wednesday, May 1, 2013, according to authorities. He was 34. (AP Photo/Atlanta Journal-Constitution, Jonathan Phillips) MARIETTA DAILY OUT; GWINNETT DAILY POST OUT; LOCAL TV OUT; WXIA-TV OUT; WGCL-TV OUT

In this Feb. 23, 2013 photo, Chris Kelly of Kris Kross performs on stage at the Fox Theatre in Atlanta during the So So Def 20th Anniversary Concert. Kelly, half of the 1990s kid rap duo Kris Kross who made one of the decade's most memorable songs with the frenetic "Jump," died Wednesday, May 1, 2013, according to authorities. He was 34. (AP Photo/Atlanta Journal-Constitution, Jonathan Phillips) MARIETTA DAILY OUT; GWINNETT DAILY POST OUT; LOCAL TV OUT; WXIA-TV OUT; WGCL-TV OUT

ATLANTA (AP) ? Chris Kelly, half of the 1990s kid rap duo behind one of the decade's most memorable songs, "Jump," has died at an Atlanta hospital of an apparent drug overdose, authorities said. He was 34.

Kelly, known as "Mac Daddy," and Chris Smith, known as "Daddy Mac," made up the rap group Kris Kross, who were known for wearing their clothes backwards as they rhymed.

"It appears it may have been a possible drug overdose," said Cpl. Kay Lester, a spokeswoman for the Fulton County police. Lester said that was based on statements received at the scene as well as evidence turned up at Kelly's home in south Atlanta.

According to Lester, police were called to Kelly's home at around 4:30 p.m. Wednesday. He was then transported to the south campus of the Atlanta Medical Center.

Investigator Betty Honey of the Fulton County Medical Examiner's office said Kelly was pronounced dead at the hospital at around 5 p.m. Wednesday.

No official cause of death has been determined, pending an autopsy.

Kris Kross was introduced to the music world in 1992 by music producer and rapper Jermaine Dupri after he discovered the pair at Greenbriar Mall in southwest Atlanta.

"To the world Chris was Mac Daddy but to me, he was a son I never had..." Dupri said in a statement Thursday.

"When I think about it, I spent more time with Chris and Chris than damn near anybody in my whole life, so you can imagine how bad this hurts," Dupri added. "I will always love you Chris, and I will never let the world forget you, may God bless your soul."

The duo wore their clothes backwards as a gimmick, but they won over fans with their raps.

Their first, and by far most successful song, was "Jump." The hit, off their multiplatinum 1992 debut album "Totally Krossed Out," featured the two trading verses and rapping the refrain, the song's title. The duo had surprising maturity in their rap delivery, though the song was written by Dupri. It would become a No. 1 smash in the United States and globally, and one of the most popular of that year.

Their success led to instant fame: They toured with Michael Jackson, appeared on TV shows, and even had their own video game.

The group was never able to match the tremendous success of their first song, though they had other hits like "Warm It Up," and "Tonite's tha Night."

In 2009, after photos surfaced that showed him with bald spots on his head, there were rumors that he had cancer. But in an interview posted on YouTube by Straight from the A TV, he said he suffered from alopecia, a condition in which people lose their hair.

"My health is good, I just got alopecia, I don't have cancer, not other sort of diseases," he said.

Earlier this year, the group performed together to celebrate the anniversary of Durpri's label, So So Def.

___

Wells Gabriel reported from Washington. AP Entertainment Writer Nekesa Mumbi Moody in New York and writer Jeff Martin in Atlanta contributed to this report.

Associated Press

Source: http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/4e67281c3f754d0696fbfdee0f3f1469/Article_2013-05-02-US-Obit-Chris-Kelly/id-4e917b7c54694b2fb76038af371e6a2c

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Scientists Seek To Take The Measure of Antimatter

In 2011, researchers at CERN found a way to trap and hold particles of antihydrogen for about 15 minutes at a time. Jeffrey Hangst, spokesman for the ALPHA project at CERN, describes how scientists are trying to measure basic properties of the particles, such as their mass.

Source: http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=180824404&ft=1&f=1007

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Medal of Honor Society to honor Newtown educators

NEWTOWN, Conn. (AP) ? The Congressional Medal of Honor Society plans to honor the six educators killed in the December massacre at the Sandy Hook Elementary School in Connecticut with its highest civilian award.

The society says Rachel D'Avino, Dawn Hochsprung, Anne Marie Murphy, Lauren Rousseau, Mary Sherlach and Victoria Soto exemplified courage, sacrifice and selflessness in trying to protect students from the gunman.

Harold A. Fritz, the president of the society, tells the New Haven Register (http://bit.ly/Zzk5yf ) the women's families will be presented with the Citizen Honors Medal during a ceremony on May 6 at Newtown High School.

The organization, which is made up of Medal of Honor recipients, also will present its Certificate of Commendation to all of the other teachers and staff of the Sandy Hook Elementary School.

___

Information from: New Haven Register, http://www.nhregister.com

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/medal-honor-society-honor-newtown-educators-110327142.html

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La Jolla Rec Council seeks new board members, readies for Rec ...

Children take tennis lessons at the La Jolla Rec Center, 1953. Courtesy La Jolla Historical Society

La Jolla Rec Center
? Where: 615 Prospect St., La Jolla
? Hours: Mondays 9 a.m. to 5:45 p.m., Tuesdays-Thursdays 9 a.m. to 7:45 p.m., Fridays 9 a.m. to 5:45 p.m., Saturdays 9 a.m. to 12:45 p.m. (Closed Sundays)
? Info: (858) 552-1658
? Programs/events: bit.ly/LJRecCenter

Join the Rec Council
? Contact: Doug Fitzgerald,?(310) 383-6633
?Next meeting: 5 p.m. May 22

Cinco De Mayo Senior Dance
? Where: Rec Center Auditorium
? When: 5:30-8:30 p.m. Friday, May 3
? What: Dinner, punch, coffee, dessert, live music
? Cost: $10 per person (ages 55 and up)

The La Jolla recreation center at 615 Prospect St. was built and designed in 1915 by master architect Irving Gill, through money and land donated by philanthropist Ellen Browning Scripps. Courtesy of La Jolla Historical Society

By Pat Sherman

For nearly 100 years, the La Jolla Recreation Center has served as the heart and hub of the Village, offering everything from sports programs and fitness facilities

to self-improvement courses and meeting rooms where groups advising the city on important issues ? from development to park and beach upkeep ? conduct monthly meetings.

Now, the nonprofit board that makes decisions on how the city-owned rec center?s funds are spent is gearing up for the center?s 100th anniversary, and is in need of new members to help make decisions about the facilities, its programming and future.

?It?s a pretty vital place,? La Jolla Recreation Council (LJRC) board chair Doug Fitzgerald said. ?It?s like the traditional, good old rec center. Nobody thinks?about the workings ? it just goes on and on.?

The nonprofit LJRC has about eight members, though it may have as many as 15. Prospective members must live in La Jolla or own a business here, and attend three monthly meetings prior to joining. Meetings are held the fourth Wednesday of each month at 5 p.m. in the Rec Center auditorium.

Philanthropist Ellen Browning Scripps tours the Rec Center?s billiards room during the grand opening in 1915.

?What we?d really like to get are the parents of children who use the Rec Center,? said LJRC treasurer Hobe Schroeder. ?We don?t currently have any parents of young children on our board, so we would love to get their input.?

Fitzgerald said he also welcomes new members. ?The influx is always great for new ideas,? he said.

The Rec Center was built and designed in 1915 by master architect Irving Gill, through money and land donated by philanthropist Ellen Browning Scripps. It was dedicated that same year to the City of San Diego for the children of La Jolla, and is today designated as a local historical landmark.

Fitzgerald said the board is already beginning to plan for the center?s 100th anniversary celebration, on July 3, 2015. In the meantime, the board is seeking donations of money and/or labor to help spruce up the center.

?We?re planning on a pretty big celebration on that day,? Fitzgerald said. ?Our job really is to maintain the center and make sure that property stays in shape for the next 100 years and beyond.?

Schroeder was recruited by the late George ?Walt? Hall to join the LJRC board?nearly 15 years ago. Hall?s fundraising prowess put money in?the Rec Center coffers for things such as last year?s historically accurate renovation of concrete pillars that line the athletic grounds.

?He was an unbelievable guy ? the quintessential fundraiser,? Schroeder said of Hall, who passed away in March after?moving to Oregon years ago. ?Because of him we still have so much money in our kitty ? and we?re really indebted to his service.?

La Jolla Rec Council?s Treasurer Hobe Schroeder and board Chair Doug Fitzgerald invite prospective board members to attend the next council meeting, 5 p.m. May 22. File

The Rec Center relies on donations and some funding, including a $25,000 annual grant from the Ellen Browning Scripps Foundation, which is usually spent on major repairs and youth programming.

However, the Rec Center will need money to completely repaint the exterior prior to the centennial, Fitzgerald said.

Since its inception nearly 100 years ago, the La Jolla Rec Center has been a place for youth and adults to gather, celebrate and recreate. Courtesy La Jolla Historical Society

?We?re already trying to get bids on it now,? he said, adding that the center also needs new flooring. ?We?ve got tile in the main room from 1950. ? Hopefully, we get help from the City of San Diego, but the city doesn?t really have a lot of money.?

The LJRC also makes decisions about the?permitted use of several parks, including Cliffridge Park and Allen Field.

Fitzgerald said meetings usually last only an hour. ?We do it quickly and succinctly; we don?t spend hours talking,? he said. ?People?s time is valuable.?

Schroeder said his time on the board has afforded him a way to give back to the community and make a difference in the lives of local youth.

?I feel these kids are our future, so it was a great opportunity for me and I?m still doing it,? he said. ?We?re one of the very few rec centers in the whole city of San Diego that keeps morning hours, because we buy 15 hours per week from the city.?

Related posts:

1. La Jollans attend vigil for Irving Gill?s ?Windemere?
2. Preservationists fearful about the fate of La Jolla post office mural
3. La Jolla?s beach cottages: An issue of integrity
4. Congressman introduces largely symbolic bill to save La Jolla post office
5. Postal Work

Short URL: http://www.lajollalight.com/?p=106403

Source: http://www.lajollalight.com/2013/05/01/la-jolla-rec-council-seeks-new-board-members-readies-for-rec-center%E2%80%99s-centennial/

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Burglars strike Fla. home of Heat's Udonis Haslem

May 1 (Reuters) - Post position for Saturday's 139th Kentucky Derby at Churchill Downs after Wednesday's draw (listed as barrier, HORSE, jockey, trainer) 1. BLACK ONYX, Joe Bravo, Kelly Breen 2. OXBOW, Gary Stevens, D. Wayne Lukas 3. REVOLUTIONARY, Calvin Borel, Todd Pletcher 4. GOLDEN SOUL, Robby Albarado, Dallas Stewart 5. NORMANDY INVASION, Javier Castellano, Chad Brown 6. MYLUTE, Rosie Napravnik, Tom Amoss 7. GIANT FINISH, Jose Espinoza, Tony Dutrow 8. GOLDENCENTS, Kevin Krigger, Doug O'Neill 9. OVERANALYZE, Rafael Bejarano, Todd Pletcher 10. PALACE MALICE, Mike Smith, Todd Pletcher 11. ...

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/burglars-strike-fla-home-heats-udonis-haslem-171550461.html

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Turkey: Legal reforms fall short on freedom of expression | Amnesty ...

The conviction this month of Faz?l Say, a Turkish pianist for ?insulting religious values? is just the tip of the iceberg when it comes to how the Turkish authorities could implement a new reform package that has the potential to limit freedom of expression, Amnesty International said.

The ?Fourth judicial package? ? a reform bill confirmed yesterday by Turkey?s President and passed into law today, fails to meet the government?s stated aim of bringing Turkish laws into line with international human rights standards, including European Court of Human Rights case law on the right to freedom of expression.

?This legal reform will go down in the history books as yet another missed opportunity for the government to deliver genuine human rights reform,? said John Dalhuisen, Amnesty International?s Europe and Central Asia Director.

?It is a small step in the right direction, but still a long way short of Turkey?s international human rights obligations as well as what the people of Turkey demand from their lawmakers.?

Amnesty International believes the reform package will allow abusive prosecutions to continue, forcing still more political activists, journalists and human rights defenders to face jail sentences for carrying out their work.

Urgent steps needed

The organization calls for the government to abolish the provision on ?insulting religious values?, used against the pianist Fazil Say, who was given a 10-month suspended prison sentence for what were deemed offensive comments on Twitter. Amnesty also wants the abolition of Penal Code Article 301 on ?denigration of the Turkish nation? and Article 125 on criminal defamation. None of the three were included in the government?s recent reform package.

?Yesterday?s conviction of pianist Fazil Say for ?insulting religious values? demonstrates the need for Turkey?s outdated and restrictive laws to be changed,? Dalhuisen added.

?It is not enough for the government to state that the reform process is ongoing, urgent steps must be taken now.?

Open to abuse

Amnesty International notes that several other Penal Code articles amended under the reform package could still be open to abuse, leading to further violations of the right to freedom of expression.

These include Article 215 on ?praising a crime or a criminal? and Article 318 on ?alienating the public from military service? ? both of which the organization wants to see abolished.

The reform package also amends Anti-Terrorism Law articles 6/2 on ?printing or publishing of declarations or statements of terrorist organizations? and 7/2 on ?making propaganda for a terrorist organization?. Under the reforms, only statements constituting coercion, violence or threats are subject to prosecution under these provisions ? but while the proposed amendments do narrow the offences, and may therefore prevent some of the abuses seen in the past, the amendment is still too broad in that it includes the vague concepts of coercion and threat without specifying a link to violence.

According to international standards, only people making statements that amount to making propaganda for war or any other sort of advocacy of violence should be prosecuted.

Amnesty International calls on the Turkish authorities to amend Article 7/2 in line with these international standards and to scrap Article 6/2 which does not provide for any legitimate prosecution outside what is provided for in Article 7/2.?

Amendments also prevent the use of these articles and some offences under the Law on Demonstrations to be used in conjunction with Article 220/6 of the Penal Code ?Committing a crime in the name of a terrorist organization? that allows persons to be punished as if they were a member of a terrorist organization.
?
This amendment is welcome in that it should prevent some of the abusive prosecutions for ?Committing a crime in the name of a terrorist organization? which have included individuals being prosecuted and convicted for legitimate expressions dissenting opinions in particularly in relation to Kurdish rights and politics through speeches, participation at demonstrations and association with certain recognised political groups and organizations.

However, it does not address the broader problem of similar prosecutions being brought for ?membership of a terrorist organization? under Article 314 of the Penal Code or other related provisions.

Amnesty International calls on the Turkish authorities to abolish the offence of ?Committing a crime in the name of a terrorist organization? and to address the broader abuses seen under anti-terrorism prosecutions by amending the overly broad and vague definition of terrorism in line with international standards.

?Turkey has a history of broad and vague laws which have been applied in violation of the right to freedom of expression. Turkey?s lawmakers should have put an end to this,? said Andrew Gardner, Amnesty International?s researcher on Turkey.

?This reform bill afforded the Turkish authorities an opportunity to end the prosecution of individuals for membership of a terrorist organization based simply on the fact that they had written a book, or given a lecture, allegedly supporting the aims of a terrorist organization. Should we now understand that the government wants such abusive prosecutions to continue?? said Gardner.

?Ending the abusive and unfair prosecutions under anti-terrorism laws is essential to achieve peace and justice in Turkey.?

Source: http://www.amnesty.org/en/news/turkey-legal-reforms-fall-short-freedom-expression-2013-04-30

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