Turkish human rights activist and philanthropist Osman Kavala has been sentenced to life at the trial where he was accused of “trying to overthrow the government” for supporting anti-government protests Istanbul in 2013. The judges of the Court of Caglayan to Istanbul, as Ansa found out during today’s hearing. Kavala has been imprisoned in Silivri Prison in Istanbul for over 4 years. The European Court of Human Rights had asked for his release. That philanthropist was acquitted of “espionage” in connection with an alleged involvement in the 2016 coup attempt in Turkey. Sentenced to 18 years in prison, again for “attempting to overthrow the government” by taking part in the 2013 anti-government protests Other 7 accused those were arrested at the end of the hearing amidst the cries of protest from the audience present in the courtroom. The decision was greeted with slogans from protests: has a crowd of at least 100 people beaten that door Entrance to the court and the protest ended after the arrival of a group of police officers. MPs from Turkey’s major opposition parties challenged the verdict during a conference before the court after the hearing.
Amnesty International he called the sentence a “politically motivated parody” and an “attempt to silence independent voices”. “Today we witnessed a judicial parody of spectacular proportions,” said the director of the NGO Nils Muiznieks in a statement describing the verdict as “a blow to anyone who believes in justice and human rights activism in Turkey and elsewhere.” Amnesty said it would continue to call for the immediate release of Kavala and the other defendants, who were sentenced to 18 years in prison today. “The court’s decision lacks any logic,” said Muiznieks, describing the verdict as “unfair”.
Kavala was arrested shortly after landing at Istanbul Airport in October 2017. He returned from a trip to the predominantly Kurdish south-east of Turkey, where he was involved in a number of human rights and minority protection projects. He has been in prison since November 2017 for involvement in the 2016 coup attempt and taking part in the 2013 anti-government demonstrations in Gezi Park. In September 2021 the President Recep Tayyip Erdogan had announced that i 10 western ambassadors in Turkey who had signed an appeal for the release of the philanthropist would have been declared “persona non grata” by the foreign minister. Among the diplomats involved were representatives of the United States, France and Germany.
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