ECHR Orders Turkey to Free Osman Kavala, Void Life Conviction After 15-2 Ruling
Updated
Updated · courthousenews.com · Aug 25
ECHR Orders Turkey to Free Osman Kavala, Void Life Conviction After 15-2 Ruling
3 articles · Updated · courthousenews.com · Aug 25
Summary
A 15-2 Grand Chamber ruling said Turkey must release Osman Kavala at the earliest possible date and remove the legal consequences of his aggravated life sentence.
Judges found no proof Kavala incited or supported violence, saying Turkish courts treated his meetings, research, international contacts and support for peaceful protest as evidence of overthrowing the government.
The court said the prosecution was used to punish Kavala’s Gezi Park activism and human-rights work, silence him and deter wider dissent, while flaws in the trial raised serious doubts about judicial independence.
Turkey had already ignored a 2019 ECHR release order and was found in 2022 to have defied that binding judgment; Tuesday’s decision is final, with the Council of Europe set to monitor compliance.
Kavala, 68, was awarded 70,000 euros in damages and 43,342.57 euros in legal costs in a case the court called emblematic of broader misuse of criminal law against critics in Turkey.