In 1979 Ragıp Zarakolu was one of the founders of the daily newspaper "Demokrat" and took responsibility for the news desk on foreign affairs. The paper was banned and Ragıp Zarakolu was shortly imprisoned in 1982 because of his link to "Demokrat". He was banned from leaving the country between 1971 and 1991. In 1986 he became one of 98 starters of the Human Rights Association in Turkey (HRA or in Turkish IHD). For some time Ragıp Zarakolu chaired the Writers in Prison Committee of International PEN in Turkey. Currently (beginning of 2007) he chairs the Committee for Freedom of Publication in the Union of Publishers.