Trial of Turkey's best known novelist halted

The presiding judge in the trial of Orhan Pamuk, Turkey’s best-known novelist, ordered a halt in the trial shortly after it opened today, citing questions over whether a new law making it a crime to insult the national identity could be applied to the novelist’s case.

Pamuk was facing trial in Istanbul for insulting Turkishness but his lawyers argued that the comments that he made that led to the trial predated the law by several months.

Judge Metin Aydin said the court has appealed to the Justice Ministry to see whether the law can be applied to Pamuk’s case.

If the ministry says the law does not apply, the case against Pamuk is likely to be dropped.

The next hearing for the trial was set for February 7.