1/. In February, I was in #Turkey for the verdict in the trial of 2 of my ex-@amnesty colleagues & 9 other human rights defenders, who face up to 15 years in jail on absurd
charges. But the verdict was postponed.
Next Friday, they will be back in court.
2/. Due to COVID, we won’t be there next week, but others will.
It’s no coincidence that as human rights violations in a country increase, so do the attacks on those people who defend them.
In times of repression, their becomes more vital than ever: more vital & more dangerous.
3/. Join @amnesty on 3 July & all this week as we COUNTDOWN TO JUSTICE & demand their acquittal
8/. "Turkey's judiciary is being exploited to intimidate & silence civil society, so it's impossible to predict what the court will decide. The public prosecutor has called for long prison sentences for six of the defendants." @amnesty_de's @mnbeeko. amnesty.org/en/latest/news…
"No matter where you live
no matter which government rules you
you may need to have your rights defended one day"
“From the start, this has been a politically-motivated trial aiming to silence those of us in the dock and send a message to the rest of society: fight for human rights or speak the truth at your peril.”
If found guilty they could face upto 15 years in jail.
All eyes are on the İstanbul Çağlayan courthouse today. We demand the acquittal of all 11 human rights defenders. Follow @andrewegardner & @MilenaBuyum
Peter & Ali’s lawyers read final defence statements. “If anyone is convicted it will be a severe violation of all of our rights”
“None of us should have even been detained. We are not terrorists, we are simply defending human rights” #FreeRightsDefenders
The Istanbul court has adjourned for 1 hour.
The judges seem to want to finish the hearing quickly.
“After 3 years this case is just as surreal as day one.
Absurd allegations - not supported by evidence - which were first reported in pro-govt media, then in the indictment, then in the prosectuor’s concluding statement.” @andrewegardner#FreeTurkeyMedia
“We are here for justice” @amnesty’s @andrewegardner outside the courthouse where 11 human rights defenders will hear the verdict against them
"The prosecution which is responsible by law to ensure the fairness of trials & the protection of the defendant's rights have requested instead the conviction of some of the defendants on the basis of disproven allegations." @amnesty's @andrewegardner#FreeRightsDefenders
• • •
Missing some Tweet in this thread? You can try to
force a refresh
1/. “It is the greatest mass-killing in recorded history; & it goes on daily, hourly, as regularly as the ticking of your watch”
Arthur Koestler’s 1944 essay expressing frustration at the failure of the world to acknowledge Nazi atrocities resonates today wethescreamers.com
2/ “There are a few of us…yelling at you in newspapers…Now & then we reach your ear…But it only lasts a minute. You shake yourself like puppies who’ve got their fur wet; then the screen again descends & you walk on, protected by the dream-barrier which stifles all sound”
#Gaza
3/ Koestler notes maniacs lose contact with reality so “perhaps it’s we, the screamers, who react in a sound & healthy way to the reality which surrounds us, whereas you are the neurotics who totter about in a screened fantasy world because you lack the faculty to face the facts”
“They got me!” Liz Truss tells far-right kingpin, Steve Bannon, before going on to explain that, to have effectively tackled “the deep state” that runs Britain & its institutions, she would have “needed a bigger bazooka”! #LizTruss #BritanniaUnchained
"I was just saying it like it is & that’s what people respect me for"(!)
Liz Truss’ compares her premiership to a one night stand & says she was just “fattening the pig” for slaughter & that she should have gaslit the public like Rishi Sunak is doing (!)
"I faced the most almighty backlash...from the usual suspects in the media” Liz Truss
“Truss's decline is simultaneously tragic & horrifying but the claim that the media conspired against her can't go unchallenged. There are front pages praising her to the rafters” @mrjamesob
As the 2nd module of the #CovidInquiry begins covering “core UK decision-making & political governance”, comes news that Rishi Sunak - like Boris Johnson - has also fail to fully comply with the order to hand his WhatsApp messages
“The govt needs get professional IT experts to recover these messages”
Charles Persinger who lost his wife & mother to #COVID, echoes the call of @CovidJusticeUK’s lawyers calling on the @covidinquiryuk to commission experts to retrieve Sunak & Johnson’s ‘lost’ WhatsApp messages
Twitter's new privacy policy takes effect on 29 September
It gives X the right to use your posts - including DMs - & all your data - including phone, email, biometrics (e.g. face scans & eye scans) to train their AI & to share with any partner X wants👇 twitter.com/en/privacy
“I do not accept that Twitter has deteriorated in any way since Elon Musk took over”
A week before Twitter’s change in privacy policy, some questions for @elonmusk
1. What biometric information will be collected & what are the intended uses?
How will X ensure that that the data of X’s 530 million users isn’t used for unlawful purposes? mashable.com/article/x-twit…
1/. “I am often asked why the UK doesn’t have a successful far-right populist party. My answer is: because it doesn’t need to” @julie_renbe
Far-right politics are becoming mainstreamed in:
Italy
Finland
Sweden
Greece
France
Hungary
Poland
Germany
Spain
UK theguardian.com/books/2023/jul…
2/. The far right is being increasingly mainstreamed in both European & US politics
Last October, Giorgia Meloni - head of the Brothers of Italy party, which has historical roots in the post-war neo-fascist Italian Social Movement - won Italy’s election nytimes.com/2023/07/31/pod…