Judiciary admits "legal errors"On April 19, a Belgian judge quashed a court verdict against four people from Turkey. The verdict, handed down in February 2006, had seen three of them imprisoned for membership of the DHKP-C (Revolutionary People's Liberation Party-Front). Lawyers for those convicted have continued with appeals, citing various trial irregularities in the way the original court was conducted by Judge Freddy Troch. There was, amongst other things, criticism of the way the Turkish state was allowed to have a lawyer present at hearings, in addition to the efforts of the Belgian state prosecutor. This was seen as infringing Belgian sovereignty. Also, since those on trial openly admitted to being bitter opponents of the Turkish authorities, it meant that the trial was in part a …
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