Administrative court to hold hearing for the decision to ban Kurdish play Bêrû
İstanbul 10th Administrative Court scheduled a hearing for May 31, Monday to hear MLSA’s demand for the suspension of the execution of the İstanbul Gaziosmanpaşa District Governorship’s decision to ban Kurdish play Bêrû.
On October 13 of last year, the Kurdish adaptation of Dario Fo’s play, “Bêrû: Klakson Borîzan û Birt” by Teatra Jiyana Nû was banned by the district governorship hours before its staging at the City Theatres of İstanbul Metropolitan Municipality’s Gaziosmanpaşa Stage.
Media and Law Studies Association (MLSA) lawyers had applied to the İstanbul 2nd Administrative Court for the suspension of the execution of this decision, filing a lawsuit on behalf of Barış Altıntaş, an audience member, claiming that the decision was a violation of freedom of expression.
The Court ruled for an interim decision on November 20, requesting from the Gaziosmanpaşa District Governorship the script and its Turkish translation if available, in addition to being informed on whether there were any applications made to legal and administrative authorities on the staging of the play. The Court also requested detailed information regarding the play’s past stagings from the Directorate of City Theatres.