A Turkish court has sentenced prominent civil rights activist and philanthropist Osman Kavala to life in prison without parole, finding him guilty of attempting to overthrow the government in connection with the 2013 mass anti-government protests.
The court in Istanbul also sentenced seven other defendants, including 71-year-old architect Mucella Yapici, to 18 years in prison each for “aiding” the attempt.
It ordered that the activists, who were not in custody, be immediately arrested, the state-run Anadolu Agency reported.
The verdict, which is likely to harm Turkey’s ties with Western nations, comes as Europe’s top human rights body, the Council of Europe, launched infringement procedures against Turkey for refusing to abide by a ruling by the European Court of Human Rights, which called for Mr Kavala’s release on grounds that his rights had been violated.
Mr Kavala, 64, has been jailed in Silivri prison, on the outskirts of Istanbul, since he was detained in October 2017, accused of financing the protests.
He and other defendants denied all the accusations and are expected to appeal against the verdicts.
Human rights groups say Mr Kavala was prosecuted with flimsy evidence and that the case is politically motivated.
Supporters of Mr Kavala and the seven other defendants immediately protested over the verdicts on Monday, shouting slogans in support of the 2013 protests that morphed from a dispute over building a mall in an Istanbul park into wider demonstrations against the government of then-prime minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan.
Ozgur Ozel, an opposition legislator whose party frequently questions the independence of Turkey’s courts, accused the judiciary of allegedly meeting the wishes of Mr Erdogan, who is now president.
“Justice did not prevail here today — the will of the person who rules this country was carried out,” he told reporters outside the courthouse.
Mr Ozel also denounced the trial as an attempt by Mr Erdogan to “demonise the protests that were extremely peaceful and were staged out of environmental concerns”.
Asked for his final words in court on Monday, Mr Kavala said: “The aggravated life sentence demanded against me is an assassination that cannot be explained through legal reasons,” according to the Media and Law Studies Association group which has been monitoring the trial.
In his defence statements on Friday, Mr Kavala rejected the accusations once again, insisting that he had merely taken pastries and face masks to the protesters. He said allegations that he directed the protests are “not plausible”.
“The fact that I spent four-and-a-half years of my life in prison is an irreparable loss for me. My only consolation is the possibility that my experience will contribute to a better understanding of the grave problems of the judiciary,” Mr Kavala told the court by videoconference from Silivri.
Mr Kavala is the founder of a non-profit organisation, Anadolu Kultur, which focuses on cultural and artistic projects promoting peace and dialogue.
Mr Kavala was initially acquitted in February 2020 of charges that connected him with the 2013 Gezi Park protests.
As supporters awaited his release, Mr Kavala was rearrested on new charges linking him to Turkey’s 2016 coup attempt. The acquittal was later overturned and the case was merged with that relating to the coup attempt, which the Turkish government blames on the network of US-based Muslim cleric Fethullah Gulen.
The court on Monday acquitted Mr Kavala of charges linked to the coup attempt, saying there was insufficient evidence, Anadolu reported.
