Why We Have a First Amendment

Orhan Pamuk, a Turkish novelist, is on trial in his country. His alleged offense? "Denigrating national character." Authorities charge that Pamuk committed this sin when he told a Swiss newspaper earlier this year that "30,000 Kurds and a million Armenians were killed in these lands and nobody but me dares to talk about it." In other words, Pamuk is being prosecuted for spouting an opinion. This story in Britain's The Independent shows how Pamuk's trial, and Turkey's shaky record on human rights, may affect it's bid to join the European Union.