JURIST - Paper Chase: Turkish appeals court overturns convictions of Kurdish lawmakers

A Turkish appeals court has overturned a state security court decision to convict four former Kurdish lawmakers of having links to Kurdish rebels, paving the way for a third trial. The earlier convictions have been seen as a setback for Turkey's European Union membership after the country's state security court was called biased and unable to provide the defendants a fair trial. The European Court of Human Rights had ruled that the defendants did not get a fair hearing in their first trial. Read the ECHR judgment [DOC]. It is unclear when the third trial will begin because Turkey recently abolished its state security court system, which dealt with terrorism cases, and the government has not yet submitted to parliament a proposal to create new competent courts. AP has more.