Eleven human rights activists, including the two local heads of Amnesty International, went on trial in Turkey on Wednesday, accused of belonging to and aiding terror groups in a case that has increased concerns over Turkey’s authoritarian turn under President Recep Tayyip Erdogan. Human rights groups say the defendants have been accused of “trumped up” charges. “There is not a shred of evidence against the 11 human rights defenders on trial today,” Andrew Gardner, Amnesty’s Turkey researcher, told The Associated Press. But for 11 human rights defenders to be . Turkey has arrested more than 50,000 people since the failed coup and sacked at least 110,000 others from government jobs.

Source: Egypt Independent October 25, 2017 08:26 UTC