Turkish court sentences Amnesty International leaders for terrorism

A Turkish court on Friday sentenced the former head of Amnesty International (AI) in Turkey to six years in prison and the head of the Turkish branch of the same organization to two years in prison on terrorism charges.

The sentence is part of the trial of the so-called “The Eleven of Istambul" - eleven human rights activists arrested in July 2017 during a meeting and accused of having links to different terrorist groups.

The criminal court at Çaglayan Palace of Justice in Istanbul sentenced former AI President Taner Kiliç to six years and three months in prison for "being a member of a terrorist organization".

The NGO's director, Idil Eser, along with two human rights activists, Günal Kusun and Özlem Dalkiran, were sentenced to two years and one month in prison for various cases related to "aiding and abetting" terrorist organizations.

The other seven activists, including Germany's Peter Steudtner and Sweden's Ali Gharavi, were acquitted of all charges.

Most of the defendants in this case have already spent more than a year in pre-trial detention between 2017 and 2018, accused of having links with the brotherhood of the Islamist cleric Fethullah Gülen, as well as with the Kurdish guerrilla group Kurdistan Workers' Party and the ultra-Marxist armed group DHKP-C.

AI has consistently denied the charges and denounced attempts to "criminalize" human rights organizations.

"This is an outrage. The allegations are absurd and without evidence. After a three-year trial, Taner Kiliç has been convicted of being a member of a terrorist organization," said AI spokesperson Andrew Gardner in a tweet.

"Özlem and Günal have been convicted of assisting (a terrorist organization). The torment continues. We will not give up until they are all acquitted," he added.

The NGO has announced that it will appeal to the court of appeal and criticised the lengthy judicial process, which has lasted more than three years and included 12 hearings.