Europe’s top rights court accused Turkey of not complying with a ruling that called for the release of philanthropist Osman Kavala, who was sentenced to life in prison for the failed 2016 attempt to overthrow the Turkish government by financing large-scale protests in 2013 in Gezi Park.
European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) said on Monday that since it found Turkey in violation of Article 46 § 1 (binding force and execution of judgments) of the European Convention on Human Rights, it will now move forward with the process that could lead to Ankara’s suspension from the Council of Europe (CoE).
The CoE’s Committee of Ministers, which oversees the implementation of the rulings by the ECHR, referred the case back to the court in February to determine if Ankara has failed to fulfill its obligation to implement the ECHR’s judgment in this case.
The Committee’s Interim Resolution adopted at the time found that Turkey is refusing to abide by the Court’s final judgment by failing to ensure Kavala’s immediate release, which was disputed by the Turkish authorities.
A harsh critic of Turkey’s President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, Kavala had already been jailed for more than four years without a conviction before he received the life sentence.
Kavala was acquitted of the 2013-related charge in 2020 but was re-arrested soon afterward and accused of the coup offense before his charges were merged and an espionage indictment was added to it.
His life sentence has immediately drawn swift condemnation from the US State Department, some of Turkey’s main allies in NATO as well as rights campaigners with State Department spokesman Ned Price underscoring that Kavala’s unjust conviction is inconsistent with the rule of law, the respect for human rights and the fundamental freedoms.
Denouncing the constant judicial harassment of civil society, media, political, and business leaders in Turkey, Washington has called for the release not only of Kavala but all other arbitrarily incarcerated people.
Be the first to comment