Ankara - Turkey's leading human rights campaigner, Mr Akin Birdal, appeared in an Ankara court yesterday to defend himself against charges of incitement to racial hatred, the Anatolia news agency reported. Mr Birdal, who is recovering from a recent assassination attempt, was wheeled into the courtroom by his lawyer.
The State Security Court had sentenced him to a year in jail for a speech made at a peace rally in 1996 and is currently rehearing the case after the Court of Appeals overruled the verdict.