Turkey: Activist Osman Kavala to stay in prison | News | DW

A Turkish court docket on Monday mentioned main activist Osman Kavala should stay in jail, regardless of the Council of Europe (COE), of which Turkey is a member, launching disciplinary motion over the failure to launch him.

Kavala, 64, has been held and not using a conviction since October 2017 after being accused of financing anti-government protests in 2013 and being concerned in a coup plot in opposition to President Recep Tayyip Erdogan.

The following listening to in his case was set by the court docket for March 21.

Why is Kavala in jail?

Kavala, who, amongst different issues, based and chairs Anadolu Kultur, an Istanbul-based nonprofit arts and tradition group, was detained on October 18, 2017, on fees associated to nationwide anti-government protests in 2013.

He was acquitted in 2020 however arrested once more hours later on a cost of trying to overthrow the constitutional order associated to a 2016 coup try.

He was acquitted on that cost as nicely however detained on accusations of espionage in the identical case. Critics say these fees have been aimed toward circumventing a 2019 ruling by the European Court docket of Human Rights (ECHR) calling for his launch.

Why is Turkey dealing with disciplinary motion from the Council of Europe?

The Council of Europe, the continent’s main human rights group, nevertheless, dominated this month that Turkey had did not adjust to the ECHR’s name.

The COE has now referred the case again to the ECHR, which is able to look at if Turkey has acted in accordance with the court docket ruling.

When requested about this choice, Erdogan mentioned that Turkey won’t respect the COE if it doesn’t respect Turkish courts. Erdogan has accused Kavala of working carefully with George Soros, the billionaire financier and pro-democracy campaigner, to fund and arrange anti-government protests almost a decade in the past.

Ankara has denounced the transfer by the council as “interference” in home court docket proceedings. 

The COE’s verdict may result in motion in opposition to Ankara from the committee of ministers, which may imply a suspension of Turkey’s voting rights and even expulsion from the physique, to which it has belonged since 1950.

George Soros is a frequent bogeyman for authoritarian rulers

Strained relations with West

The European Parliament’s Turkey rapporteur, Nacho Sanchez Amor, rejected Ankara’s criticism of the COE’s transfer.

“This isn’t about any type of interfering from overseas: That is concerning the Turkish structure. The European Court docket of Human Rights is a part of the judiciary system of Turkey,” he advised the AFP information company.

Authorities critics say Turkey’s standoff with the COE displays the way in which human rights have been more and more eroded beneath Erdogan’s two-decade rule.

The Kavala case has been a serious pressure on ties between the West and Turkey, with EU accession talks, for instance, stalled over such alleged violations of human rights.

tj/wd (Reuters, AFP)