Jailed Turkish philanthropist Osman Kavala, behind bars in pre-trial detention since 2017 charged with espionage and involvement in a 2016 coup attempt, said his imprisonment is based on fiction.
“I think the real reason behind my continued detention is that it addresses the need of the government to keep alive the fiction that the (2013) Gezi protests were the result of a foreign conspiracy,” Kavala said in a written response to questions from Agence France-Presse at the weekend.
“Since I am accused of being a part of this conspiracy allegedly organised by foreign powers, my release would weaken the fiction in question and this is not something that the government would like,” he said.
Kavala faces life in prison for seeking to overthrow the constitutional order and a further 20 years if convicted on additional espionage charges. He was arrested in 2017 accused of attempting to overthrow the government by funding and organising the massive anti-government Gezi Park protests of 2013, which began over the planned destruction of a small urban park in Istanbul.
A lower court acquitted Kavala in February 2020, but he was re-arrested on new charges of espionage before he could be released. In January 2021, the Court of Appeals overturned the acquittal ruling.
Kavala said he feels like a tool in President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan’s attempts to blame a foreign plot for domestic dissent against his mercurial rule, adding that he was not expecting to be released from jail any time soon.
“If the infringement procedure starts and if the damage this would cause is considered to outweigh whatever political benefits are expected from my continued detention, I might perhaps be released,” he said.
Kavala’s next court hearing is scheduled for November 26.
The European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) ruled for Kavala’s release in December 2019, saying his rights to liberty and security and a speedy decision on the lawfulness of his detention had both been violated. “The authorities had “pursued an ulterior purpose, namely to silence him as a human rights defender,” the ECHR said. The Turkish courts have refused to comply, despite Turkey’s constitution requiring them to do so.
The Committee of Ministers of the Council of Europe, which is responsible for overseeing the implementation of the ECHR, last month reiterated that Kavala should be released. The ministers are due to decide in December whether to sanction Turkey for his continued detention.
Ahval