Turkish Author Tried In Abstentia For Insulting Religious Values

AFP today reports that in Istanbul, Turkish author Nedim Gursel goes on trial in abstentia charged under Art. 216 of the Turkish Penal Code with insulting the religious values of the people. The charges grow out of Gursel's novel "The Daughters of Allah." Gursel currently lives in France. Hurriyet reports that a Religious Affairs Directorate committee concluded that the book "was insulting and sarcastic, humiliating Allah, its prophets, divine religions, worshipping, holy books and religious principles. This cannot be explained in the scope of freedom of thought or criticism."