ANKARA, Turkey: A Turkish court has sentenced prominent Turkish civil rights activist and philanthropist Osman Kavala to life in prison without parole, after finding him guilty of financing mass protests, which the government claims sought to overthrow the government during the 2013 Gezi Park protests.
The ruling was criticized by Western governments and rights groups, with one calling it “a travesty of justice of spectacular proportions.”
The court in Istanbul also sentenced seven other defendants, and ordered that other activists not in custody be immediately arrested, according to state-run Anadolu Agency.
The verdict comes as Europe’s top human rights body, the Council of Europe, launched infringement procedures against Turkey for refusing to uphold a 2019 ruling by the European Court of Human Rights that called for Kavala’s release.
Kavala, 64, has been jailed in Silivri prison in Istanbul since he was detained on 18th October, 2017. He and other defendants denied all the accusations and are expected to appeal the verdicts.
Human rights groups claim Kavala, founder of cultural nonprofit organization Anadolu Kultur, was prosecuted with flimsy evidence and that the case is politically motivated.
This week, supporters of Kavala and the seven other defendants immediately protested the verdicts, and German Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock said the verdict “blatantly contradicts the constitutional standards and international obligations that Turkey commits itself to as a member of the Council of Europe and EU accession candidate.”
“We expect Osman Kavala to be released immediately. The European Court of Human Rights has bindingly obliged Turkey to do so,” she added.
The verdict is a “dark moment for Turkey,” said rights group PEN America, while Nils Muiznieks, Amnesty International’s director for Europe, said the prison sentence amounted to a “travesty of justice of spectacular proportions.”
Opposition legislator Ozgur Ozel accused the judiciary of allegedly meeting the wishes of Turkey’s President Tayyip Erdogan.
“Justice did not prevail here today, the will of the person who rules this country was carried out,” he told reporters outside the courthouse, denouncing the trial as an attempt by Erdogan to “demonize the protests that were extremely peaceful and were staged out of environmental concerns.”
In his final words in court Kavala said, “The aggravated life sentence demanded against me is an assassination that cannot be explained through legal reasons.”
In his defense statements, he also rejected the accusations once again, insisting that he had merely taken pastries and face masks to protesters.
In October, Kavala’s continued detention sparked a diplomatic crisis between Turkey and 10 Western countries, including the U.S., France and Germany.
