Turkey has sentenced Turkish businessman, philanthropist and activist Osman Kavala to life in prison. A sentence without the possibility of parole.
The man was accused of conspiring to stage a coup in connection with his 2013 funded nationwide anti-government protests. The verdict is final and not subject to appeal.
Philanthropist Osman Kavala has been in detention without trial since October 2017 on charges of funding anti-government protests in 2013 and participating in an attempted coup against President Recep Tayyip Erdogan in 2016.
Supporters of the 64-year-old man see his fate as a symbol of the purge unleashed by Erdogan after the coup attempt. In December 2019, the European Court of Human Rights (ECtHR) ruled for the first time that Kavala’s detention was politically motivated.
The Council of Europe, a human rights organization that Turkey joined in 1950, has launched a formal procedure for violating Ankara’s rights. The council gave Turkey time to release Kavala or provide legal justification for keeping him behind bars.
According to the European Court of Human Rights and Ankara’s Western allies, the case had political motives.
Under the European Convention on Human Rights, countries that have ratified the convention, including Turkey, are required to apply the rulings of the European Court of Justice. Turkey may lose the right to vote or even be excluded from the pan-European human rights body.
Kavala denies all allegations.