03/02/2006 (Agence Europe) - Dutch Green MEP Joost Lagendijk, President of the European Parliament's delegation for relations with Turkey, will be in Istanbul from Saturday to Wednesday to attend the trial of five reporters charged with criticising the banning of a conference on the Armenian genocide. Lagendijk wants the charges to be withdrawn, as happened with Turkish novelist Orhan Pamuk, whose trial was dropped in January (see EUROPE 9115 and 9116). In a press release, Lagendijk explained that Turkish 'Nationalistic lawyers use conservative articles in the penal code to limit freedom of speech. After the well-known case against Pamuk, it is still of the utmost importance that human rights organisations and the European Union maintain pressure. The Turkish authorities must understand that changes in the penal code are necessary.'