Turkey trial of activists in Amnesty case opens

Eleven human rights activists, including Amnesty International's top two figures in Turkey, went on trial Wednesday on terror charges, rejecting the accusations in a case seen by the rights watchdog as a test for the judiciary.

All bar two of the activists -- who include two foreigners -- have been behind bars since a police raid in July on a workshop run by Amnesty on an island off Istanbul.

They face up to 15 years in jail if convicted after the trial at Istanbul's main court.

The accused include the director of Amnesty Turkey Idil Eser, who was detained in the raid by police on the workshop on the island of Buyukada.

Also on trial is Amnesty's Turkey chair Taner Kilic, who was detained in June and whose case has been merged with that of the other 10 activists as prosecutors claimed he was aware of preparations for the workshop.

He has been charged with membership of an armed terror group while the others are charged with "aiding" an armed terror group. Kilic was present in court via video link from prison.

Eser said she rejected all the accusations.

"Defending human rights is not a crime. It is out of the question for Amnesty International to set an agenda in line with terror groups," she told the judge.

Eser said Amnesty defended individuals' rights irrespective of their political views, showing as an example the group's support for President Recep Tayyip Erdogan when he was jailed for reciting a poem in 1998.

- 'Rogue state'-

The activists are accused of seeking to wreak "chaos in society" -- in a similar charge to the one brought against anti-government protesters whose demonstrations rocked Turkey in the summer of 2013.

Ozlem Dalkiran, of Citizens' Assembly, said she read the indictment many times but "as a human rights defender I barely understand how a workshop ends up being linked to aiding an armed terror group."

She added: "I have been human rights advocate for almost 30 years... the accusations are in stark contrast to the values I have built my life upon."

The charges amplified concerns over freedom of expression in Turkey under the state of emergency imposed after last year's failed coup.

Ankara blamed the coup attempt on the self-exiled Muslim preacher Fethullah Gulen, who denies the accusations.

Erdogan in July said the activists were detained after a tip-off that they were working against the government.

Amnesty International's Turkey researcher Andrew Gardner said the case against the human rights defenders was "a completely baseless prosecution that doesn't have a shred of evidence and doesn't stand up to the slightest scrutiny".

"The case will be a test case for Turkey's judiciary," he told AFP.

- 'No evidence of terror links'-

The two foreigners -- German Peter Steudtner and Swede Ali Gharavi -- were leading a digital information workshop on Buyukada and have been under arrest since the July raid.

"None of the information in the indictment links me to terror organisations," Steudtner said in his testimony in English.

"Of the terror organisations I am accused of aiding in the indictment, I had only heard of two of them from the news before I came to Turkey," he said, demanding his release and acquittal.

The suspects are accused of links to outlawed groups including the Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK), Gulen's organisation and the far-left Revolutionary People's Liberation Party-Front (DHKP-C).

Steudtner's detention has stoked tensions in particular with Berlin, and German Foreign Minister Sigmar Gabriel has described the terror charges as "incomprehensible".

Sweden this month summoned Turkey's ambassador over the case of Gharavi, saying it was "worried" about the accusations against him.

- Solidarity from Snowden -

Amnesty posted a video message from Edward Snowden -- a former CIA employee who in 2013 revealed spying activities of the National Security Agency -- in support of the detained rights activists.

"I know what it means to have support from the outside world in that moment, when you are alone, when you need it most. Join me, and together let's stand up for human rights defenders in Turkey," he said.

Gardner said the "scandalous case ... must be finally put to bed" and that the human rights defenders must be released "unconditionally".

Source:AFP