Türkiye: Acquittal of Saturday Mothers protesters brings seven year ordeal to an end

Reacting to the acquittal of 45 members of the Saturday Mothers, prosecuted after their 700th peaceful vigil for their forcibly disappeared loved ones was banned and violently dispersed in August 2018, Amnesty International’s Deputy Regional Director for Europe, Dinushika Dissanayake said:

“Almost seven years after the Saturday Mothers’ 700th peaceful vigil was violently broken up by riot police, 45 people standing trial for participating in the vigil have finally been acquitted and their ordeal ended. A prosecution that should have never seen the light of day, dragged on for years.”

For more than one thousand Saturdays, the Saturday Mothers have become a powerful symbol of the importance of peaceful protest.