A Turkish court late Wednesday ordered the release of eight human rights activists including Amnesty International's director of Turkey Idil Eser, an AFP correspondent at the court said.

A total of 11 activists including a German and a Swedish national as well as Amnesty's Eser went on trial in Istanbul on contested terror charges, seen by the rights watchdog as a test case for the judiciary. Two of the activists had already been released for the duration of the trial.