Turkish Author Acquitted, but Law Stays

"Let the foreigners go to hell! They can supervise their own country!" bellowed lawyer Fuat Turgut as he pushed his way through a crowd in the doorway.

The lawyers were repeatedly rebuffed and they eventually left the courtroom in protest, after which the judge moved quickly to acquit Shafak.

"The court concluded in a 1 1/2-hour session that there was insufficient evidence to suggest that she committed a crime," Judge Irfan Adil Uncu said.

Erdogan said he was pleased with the acquittal and said Turkey was open to discussing article 301. But in implicit support of the intent behind the law, he added: "Criticism is one thing, insulting is another."

Justice Minister Cemil Cicek made similar remarks this week, asking a journalist for the Turkish Daily News whether he was willing to "let people curse at Turkey, insult Turkishness and get away with it."

Erdogan regularly files lawsuits over alleged personal insults, and on Wednesday was awarded $3,400 in a case against a journalist who suggested the prime minister might be mentally ill.

Shafak, 35, gave birth on Saturday and was at a hospital in Istanbul and did not attend Thursday's trial. If convicted, she could have received a maximum three-year prison sentence.

Shafak's husband Eyup Can, editor-in-chief of the Turkish newspaper Referans, said he hoped the decision would be a model for future cases, and pushed for the abolition of article 301.

"For the judge to make this decision in the first hearing is an important step," Can said as he was congratulated by friends after the trial. "But the most painful thing is that Turkey has become famous as a country that tries writers."

In a sign public opinion may be turning in favor of change, nationalist protesters outside the courtroom _ usually a rowdy, often violent group _ were shouted down by other spectators.

Shafak's book, "The Bastard of Istanbul," was released in Turkey on March 8 and has sold more than 50,000 copies. The court case was brought for words spoken by fictional Armenian characters regarding one of the most disputed episodes of Turkey's history, the mass killings of Armenians during the final years of the Ottoman Empire.

A Turkish court dropped charges last year against Orhan Pamuk, another leading novelist who also faced trial for writing about the killings of Armenians. The charges were dropped for technical reasons amid intense international pressure.

However, a high court recently confirmed a six-month prison sentence imposed on Armenian-Turkish journalist Hrant Dink for attempting to influence the judiciary after his newspaper ran articles criticizing the law.

Dink's sentence was suspended, meaning he will not go to jail unless he repeats the same offense.

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AP correspondent Selcan Hacaoglu in Ankara contributed to this report.