Detained for 1,637 days – more than four and a half years – he had never ceased to proclaim his innocence, in vain. The Turkish patron Osman Kavala was sentenced Monday, April 25 in Istanbul to life imprisonment. His lawyers, who had called during the trial for his acquittal for lack of evidence, have announced their intention to appeal.
The seven co-defendants of Mr. Kavala, accused of having supported him, were sentenced to eighteen years in prison.
The philanthropist, accused of having tried to overthrow the government of President Recep Tayyip Erdogan in 2016, will not be able to benefit from any remission of sentence, specified the judges, whose verdict, announced after less than an hour of deliberation, was was greeted with boos in the courtroom. He was only acquitted of the espionage charge.
The Association of Contemporary Turkish Jurists (CHD) called on lawyers to participate in a vigil outside the courthouse on Tuesday to protest against the verdict. “This government, which has descended on the country like a nightmare, continues to trample on the law”reacted for his part the leader of the main Turkish opposition party, Kemal Kiliçdaroglu.
“Judicial Assassination”
Figure of Turkish civil society, Mr. Kavala, 64, was accused of having sought to overthrow the government of Recep Tayyip Erdogan by financing the so-called anti-government demonstrations “Gezi movement”in 2013, and during the failed coup of July 2016. It was from the high security prison of Silivri, on the outskirts of Istanbul, by videoconference and dressed as usual in an impeccable white shirt, that he followed the pleadings on Monday and heard the statement of the verdict, epilogue of a judicial soap opera returned from month to month.
Facing the court on Friday, Osman Kavala also denounced President Erdogan’s influence on his trial. He denounced, at the close of the debates, a “judicial assassination” against his person: “Conspiracy theories, advanced for political and ideological reasons, have prevented an impartial analysis of events and [les ont] disconnected from realityhe launched before the judges withdrew.
During the hearing, the three lawyers for the businessman, publisher and philanthropist, notably argued that the judges never asked him “where he was” during the acts with which he was charged. During the pleadings, the representative of the Pen Club, an association for the defense of freedom of expression, Caroline Stockford, asked the judges to “drop their phone” to listen to the defense, implying that they were receiving their orders on screen.
Diplomatic crisis
Human rights activists had hoped for a release, which would send a positive signal as Turkey tries to facilitate talks between Ukraine and Russia. Especially since the President, Erdogan, simultaneously received in Ankara the Secretary General of the UN, Antonio Guterres. As at every audience, a dozen Western diplomats were present to show their support for the man who has become the pet peeve of the Erdogan regime.
The Kavala affair triggered a diplomatic crisis in October 2021. Ankara had threatened to expel a dozen Western ambassadors, including that of the United States, who had demanded his release – without finally carrying out his threat.
In February 2022, the European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) launched “infringement proceedings” against Turkey. Last month, Turkish prosecutors sought Mr. Kavala’s conviction for “attempting to overthrow” the government, a life sentence without the possibility of early release.
This new judicial decision did not fail to react outside the Turkish borders. On Monday evening, German Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock requested the “immediate release” of Osman Kavala, denouncing a stop “in flagrant contradiction with the standards of the rule of law”.
Human Rights Watch representative Emma Sinclair-Webb, present in court, said denounced on Twitter the “worst possible outcome”, “horrible, cruel and diabolical”. Amnesty International’s European director, Nils Muiznieks, castigated, for his part, a “parody of justice” who “defies common sense”.
Imprisoned a few hours after being acquitted
Nicknamed the “red billionaire” by his critics, Paris-born Osman Kavala was arrested in October 2017. Acquitted in February 2020 on charges related to the 2013 protests, the publisher was arrested hours later – even before to be able to return home – then sent back to prison, this time accused of having sought to “overthrow the government” during the failed putsch of July 2016, as well as espionage. His acquittal was then invalidated by the Turkish courts, but the regular renewal of his detention made him the hero of the opposition to President Erdogan.
“Having spent four and a half years of my life in prison can never be compensated. The only thing that can console me will be to have contributed to revealing the serious errors of Turkish justice”, he said on Friday. In December 2020, the Turkish Constitutional Court had also decided that this very long pre-trial detention did not constitute a violation of his right to freedom and security.