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Trial in Turkey over death of prominent Kurdish lawyer postponed

Court proceedings over the 2015 killing of human rights lawyer Tahir Elci were postponed Oct. 21 until March 2021 after defense attorneys requested the recusal of the trial’s judge panel.
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ISTANBUL – Five years after the death of prominent Kurdish lawyer Tahir Elci, court proceedings began Oct. 21 in which three police officers and one Kurdish militant are charged with killing the former chair of the Diyarbakir Bar Association.

Attorneys for Elci’s family claimed the trial was marked by abnormalities, requesting the judge panel recuse itself for not exhibiting “impartiality” after it rejected all their requests. The judges ruled to send the recusal request to an upper court for examination, postponing the trial until March 3, 2021.

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