A court in Istanbul found Kavala guilty of attempted coup on Monday. Loud boos were heard in the court as the verdict was announced. The decision was also widely criticized internationally as being politically motivated.
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has publicly described Kavala as a terrorist and the Gezi protests as a “conspiracy” from abroad. In addition to Kavala, seven other defendants were sentenced to 18 years in prison for aiding and abetting the attempted coup. Security forces led them directly out of the courtroom with loud protests.
Kavala, now 64, has been in prison without a sentence since 2017. In addition to the allegations in connection with the Gezi protests in 2013, he was also accused of “political and military espionage” in connection with the attempted coup in 2016 – but he was acquitted of the latter charge.
outrage at the verdict
Kavala himself had always denied all allegations against himself and described them as “politically motivated”. A view with which he is not alone. “This judgment is in blatant contradiction to the rule of law standards and international obligations to which Turkey is committed as a member of the Council of Europe and an EU candidate,” said German Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock (Greens). “We expect Osman Kavala to be released immediately – the European Court of Human Rights has made a binding commitment to Turkey.”
The Turkey representative of the organization Human Rights Watch, Emma Sinclair-Webb, called the verdict the “worst possible outcome of this show trial”, “terrible, cruel and evil.” The Turkey expert from the organization Amnesty International in Germany, Amke Dietert, demanded that Kavala be released immediately.
The president of the writers’ association PEN Germany, Deniz Yücel, who was once imprisoned as a journalist in Turkey, spoke of a political process “free of the rule of law”. Minister of State for Culture Claudia Roth called the verdict “unjustified” and Kavala was “still innocent behind bars”.
The case had already brought harsh international criticism to Turkey before the decision was made. For this reason, the country is threatened with expulsion from the Council of Europe. The European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) ordered the release of the human rights activist in 2019 and classified the detention as politically motivated. At the end of 2021, a diplomatic scandal broke out after ten ambassadors in Turkey – including the German one – had demanded the release of Kavala. President Recep Tayyip Erdogan saw this as inadmissible interference and threatened the diplomats with expulsion.
Kavala’s lawyers criticized that their client was never properly questioned throughout the process. Kavala himself complained that no evidence had been presented to prove his guilt.
The largely peaceful Gezi protests in 2013 were triggered by a construction project in the center of Istanbul. The action spread to nationwide demonstrations against the authoritarian policies of then Prime Minister Erdogan. He brutally suppressed the protests.
Kavala comes from a family of entrepreneurs and has supported numerous civil society projects in Turkey. He is the founder of the organization Anadolu Kültür. Much of his wealth has been confiscated.
On the day of the trial, numerous observers crowded the courtroom, including representatives of consulates, human rights organizations and political parties.
Supporters, human rights activists and opposition politicians accuse the conservative Islamic government of taking action against Kavala to deter engagement that does not correspond to the ideology of the ruling AKP party. For its part, the government argues against such accusations that the judiciary in Turkey is independent. The European Union, for example, raised serious doubts about this at the end of last year and, like many critics before it, attested to the country’s lack of judicial independence.
Source: Nachrichten
