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Turkey Court rules to keep Osman Kavala in prison

February 21, 2022 at 5:50 pm

Osman Kavala, Turkish businessman [Twitter]

Turkey has ruled to extend the imprisonment of the detained businessman, Osman Kavala, continuing to defy demands for his release by the European Court of Human Rights (ECHR).

In the hearing today – attended by Western diplomats from France and Germany – the panel of three judges ruled refused to release Kavala and ruled that he must remain in prison. It also ruled that the next hearing will be held in a month, on 21 March.

As the jailed businessman and philanthropist was not allowed to appear in court for the hearing, his lawyers questioned the tribunal’s impartiality, with his defence lawyer, Tolga Aytore, saying that “Kavala is not being tried in this tribunal but in political party meetings”.

The Court’s decision is likely to be met with resistance and condemnation by Western and European nations. Earlier this month, the Council of Europe launched disciplinary action against Turkey over its failure to release Kavala.

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Prior to the hearing, too, the European Parliament’s Turkey Rapporteur, Nacho Sanchez Amor, condemned Ankara for its refusal to comply with the ECHR’s 2019 ruling to free him.

Amor told the AFP news agency that “It’s not easy to understand what the rationale is of the Turkish authorities, simply not complying with the court ruling”. He added that “This is not about any kind of interfering from abroad, this is about the Turkish constitution, the European Court of Human Rights is part of the judiciary system of Turkey.”

Kavala, who has been in prison for over four years without being convicted for any crime, is accused of funding nationwide anti-government protests in 2013 and of being involved in the failed coup attempt in 2016.

Although the Council of Europe and Western nations condemn Turkey’s ongoing detention of the businessman as a human rights violation and an effort to quell political dissent, Turkey insists that it is abiding by the rule of law and that it is an issue for the country’s judiciary to decide on.

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