Europe's human rights court demands release of Osman Kavala

Europe's top human rights court has again called for the immediate release of prominent Turkish businessman and activist Osman Kavala, ruling that his continued detention and convictions are politically motivated.

The European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) stated that Kavala's sentencing in Turkey was primarily intended to punish him for his alleged role in the 2013 Gezi protests and to silence him as a human rights defender. The court's presiding judge, Mattias Guyomar, emphasized that Kavala's imprisonment was not based on concrete evidence of wrongdoing but rather aimed to discourage other activists.

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The convictions of Kavala in his home country were primarily aimed at punishing him for his role in the Gezi protests and silencing him as a human rights defender.

This ruling revisits a previous 2019 judgment where the ECHR had already found violations of Kavala's rights and called for his release. Despite the court's earlier order, Kavala remained imprisoned. He was arrested in November 2017 and spent nearly two years in pre-trial detention. Although he was surprisingly acquitted in Turkey in 2020, a new arrest warrant was issued just hours later, leading to his continued incarceration.

Turkish authorities accuse Kavala, an entrepreneur and rights advocate, of financially supporting anti-government protesters during the 2013 Gezi demonstrations with the aim of overthrowing the government. Kavala has consistently denied these charges. The ECHR's repeated calls for his release highlight ongoing concerns about the independence of the judiciary and the treatment of dissidents in Turkey.

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This should rather 'discourage other activists'.