Bail refused in ‘religious slander’ investigation

ISTANBUL, Turkey — Two Turkish Christians arrested March 1 while selling and distributing Christian literature near the southern port city of Izmir were refused bail March 8, pending a court hearing scheduled for March 30.

Ercan Sengul, 38, and Necati Aydin, 28, were taken into custody late on the afternoon of March 1 by gendarme officers in Kemalpasa, a town on the eastern edge of Izmir. Both men are employees of the Kaya Publishing Company, registered in Turkey as an official book distribution company since January 1996.

Charges pressed against the two men by state prosecutor Mstuafa Caymaz accused them of forcing people to accept Bibles and of insulting Islam. Based on identical complaints made by three local residents of Kemalpasa, the allegations were said to have violated articles 64 and 175 of the Turkish Penal Code forbidding derogatory statements against another religion.

Both Sengul and Aydin are baptized Turkish converts to Christianity who had changed their religious identity from Muslim to Christian on their permanent identity papers.