Turkish police arrested 51 people in Istanbul’s central Taksim district after they gathered to protest a court’s decision to sentence businessman Osman Kavala to life in jail, civil group Taksim Solidarity said.
People congregated in historic Taksim, the scene of mass protests against the government in 2013, on Tuesday evening, Taksim Solidarity said.
Police intervened as the demonstrators walked to Istiklal Street, the main shopping street leading to the square, following the reading of a press statement by the organisers, Diken news website said.
An Istanbul court on Monday sentenced philanthropist and human rights defender Kavala to life in prison without parole, for attempting to overthrow the government by financing the Gezi Park protests of 2013. The court’s decision has been criticised heavily by opposition political parties, civil society groups and foreign governments including the United States. Seven other people were convicted to 18 years in jail each.
The protestors chanted slogans including “Everywhere is Taksim, everywhere is resistance,” “Gezi prisoners are our honour” and “This is just the beginning, the struggle will continue,” Diken said.
“We have become a country where democracy, separation of powers and the most basic constitutional rights are ignored in a regime where courts make unlawful, witnessless, unproven, arbitrary and inconsistent decisions, according to the needs of one-man rule,” said Esin Köymen, the chairwoman of the Istanbul branch of the Chamber of Architects, who read out the press release.
Kavala spent four and a half years behind bars without a conviction ahead of Monday’s hearing. In 2019, the European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) ordered his immediate release, citing lack of evidence and a breach to his rights to freedom.
Taksim Solidarity is an umbrella group of architects, engineers and doctors that was among the strongest critics of plans to build a shopping centre on Taksim Square’s Gezi Park. The construction plans were the main catalyst for the protests, which quickly spread nationwide.
Ahval