Turkish judges postpone verdict in Amnesty International case
A Turkish court has postponed its final rulings in the infamous Buyukada trial until April as the defendants use lengthy closing statements to enter every piece of evidence of their innocence into the record.
ISTANBUL — A verdict was widely expected today for the Amnesty International Buyukada case, but judges decided to continue the trial on April 3, 2020, after the court was unable to hear all the final defense statements to conclude proceedings.
In a trial that opened Oct. 25, 2017, 11 defendants, including Amnesty International's former Turkey chair Taner Kilic, face terrorism-related charges stemming from their work as human rights defenders. Today’s proceedings come one day after Turkish philanthropist Osman Kavala was acquitted and then re-arrested on charges of attempting to overthrow the government.
