{"id":153532,"date":"2026-08-26T23:55:45","date_gmt":"2026-08-26T23:55:45","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/dk\/153532\/"},"modified":"2026-08-26T23:55:45","modified_gmt":"2026-08-26T23:55:45","slug":"rights-defenders-politicians-call-for-kavalas-release-after-ecthr-faults-turkey-over-his-conviction","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/dk\/153532\/","title":{"rendered":"Rights defenders, politicians call for Kavala\u2019s release after ECtHR faults Turkey over his conviction"},"content":{"rendered":"

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Rights groups, opposition politicians and legal scholars on Tuesday called for the release of philanthropist and businessman Osman Kavala after Europe\u2019s human rights court found that Turkey had convicted and imprisoned him to punish and silence him.<\/p>\n

The European Court of Human Rights (ECtHR)\u00a0ruled<\/a>\u00a0by 15 votes to two that Turkey had violated six provisions of the European Convention on Human Rights. The violations concerned the prohibition of inhuman or degrading treatment, the right to liberty, the right to a fair trial, freedom of expression, freedom of assembly and association and the misuse of restrictions on rights.<\/p>\n

\u2696\ufe0f Arr\u00eat de Grande Chambre : Kavala c. T\u00fcrkiye (n\u00b0 2)<\/p>\n

\u27a1\ufe0f La Cour europ\u00e9enne des droits de l\u2019homme juge qu\u2019il incombe \u00e0 la T\u00fcrkiye de lib\u00e9rer imm\u00e9diatement M. Kavala et d\u2019effacer les cons\u00e9quences de sa condamnation<\/p>\n

\ud83d\udd17 Communiqu\u00e9 de presse : https:\/\/t.co\/hICQsNw8Oc<\/a> pic.twitter.com\/wnuL92Vem8<\/a><\/p>\n

\u2014 ECHR CEDH (@ECHR_CEDH) August 25, 2026<\/a><\/p>\n

The court described Kavala\u2019s trial as a \u201cflagrant denial of justice\u201d and said his conviction must be regarded as \u201cnull and void\u201d under Convention law. It ordered Turkey to release him at the earliest possible date and void the consequences of his conviction.<\/p>\n

The Grand Chamber also awarded Kavala \u20ac70,000 ($81,600) in nonpecuniary damages and \u20ac43,342.57 for legal costs.<\/p>\n

Sergiy Vlasenko, the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe (PACE) rapporteur for\u00a0 the implementation of ECtHR judgments, called <\/a>the ruling a \u201cwake-up call\u201d not only for Kavala\u2019s case but also for the rule of law in Turkey.<\/p>\n

Vlasenko said the judgment required Turkey to address the systemic misuse of criminal proceedings against human rights defenders, political opponents and journalists as well as structural shortcomings affecting judicial independence and impartiality. He urged Turkish authorities to fully comply with the ruling, immediately release Kavala and implement its other requirements.<\/p>\n

European Parliament rapporteur for Turkey Nacho S\u00e1nchez Amor called the judgment a \u201ccrushing blow\u201d to the credibility of Turkey\u2019s judiciary. Writing from Silivri Prison, where he was following another trial, S\u00e1nchez Amor demanded that Kavala be freed and reunited with his wife, Ay\u015fe Bu\u011fra.<\/p>\n

\u201cPrecisely from infamous Silivri prison, where #OsmanKavala has been unlawfully kept for almost 9 years now, I read the latest @ECHR_CEDH ruling on his case,\u201d S\u00e1nchez Amor\u00a0wrote on X<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Main opposition leader \u00d6zg\u00fcr \u00d6zel also called for Kavala\u2019s release. He said ECtHR judgments take precedence over conflicting Turkish laws and accused President Recep Tayyip Erdo\u011fan of keeping Kavala imprisoned.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe ECtHR has ruled for a second time, yet they are still resisting,\u201d \u00d6zel\u00a0said<\/a>. \u201cThey are ruining Turkey with what they are doing.\u201d<\/p>\n

The Human Rights Defenders Solidarity Network (\u0130HSDA), which comprises 38 organizations, demanded Kavala\u2019s immediate and unconditional release. The network also called for the effects of his conviction to be removed.<\/p>\n

\u201cHuman rights advocacy is not a crime,\u201d the network\u00a0said<\/a>, adding that rights defenders must not be silenced or punished through the courts.<\/p>\n

Amnesty International called for Kavala\u2019s immediate and unconditional release in a statement that also included reactions from Human Rights Watch, the International Commission of Jurists and the Turkey Litigation Support Project.<\/p>\n

They called on Turkish judges and prosecutors to secure Kavala\u2019s release and set aside his conviction.<\/p>\n

Amnesty\u2019s Eve Geddie said Turkey had defied two previous binding judgments and that the \u201cobstruction of justice\u201d must end. Ay\u015fe Bing\u00f6l Demir of the Turkey Litigation Support Project said the judgment confirmed that Kavala\u2019s arrest, detention, prosecution and conviction were politically driven and flawed from beginning to end.<\/p>\n

Aisling Reidy of Human Rights Watch noted that the ECtHR had now demanded Kavala\u2019s release three times. She called on the Council of Europe and its member states to ensure Turkey\u2019s compliance. Temur Shakirov of the International Commission of Jurists also called for action from the Council of Europe.<\/p>\n

Osman Kavala has spent nearly 9 years behind bars unlawfully.<\/p>\n

Today, the European Court of Human Rights called his treatment a flagrant denial of justice, deemed his conviction void, & ordered his immediate release for the third time.<\/p>\n

The Council of Europe should ensure T\u00fcrkiye\u2026<\/p>\n

\u2014 Human Rights Watch (@hrw) August 25, 2026<\/a><\/p>\n

Legal scholars and lawyers also focused on the judgment\u2019s findings about Turkey\u2019s court system.<\/p>\n

Posting on X, Lawyer Kerem Alt\u0131parmak\u00a0said<\/a>\u00a0the judgment found that Turkey had ruined a man\u2019s life through eight-and-a-half years of imprisonment and a life sentence without a proper trial. He called on Turkey to end the same treatment in other political cases and release Kavala.<\/p>\n

Lawyer Tolga \u015eirin\u00a0wrote<\/a>\u00a0on X that the judgment addressed many of Turkey\u2019s current legal problems and would be discussed for years. He drew attention to the ECtHR\u2019s decision not to require Kavala to wait any longer for Turkey\u2019s Constitutional Court, where his applications have remained pending for years.<\/p>\n

\u015eirin also pointed to the ECtHR\u2019s criticism of lower courts for refusing to implement Turkish Constitutional Court rulings concerning jailed lawmaker Can Atalay and urban planner Tayfun Kahraman. He called the judgment \u201ca document of shame.\u201d<\/p>\n

Lawyer H\u00fcseyin Ers\u00f6z\u00a0posted<\/a>\u00a0on X that the failure to enforce ECtHR and Constitutional Court judgments violated Turkey\u2019s constitution. He called for the implementation of the rulings concerning Kavala, Atalay and Kahraman.<\/p>\n

French legal scholar Nicolas Hervieu\u00a0said<\/a>\u00a0the court regarded Kavala\u2019s detention as an effort to silence a human rights defender and as an example of political repression in Turkey.<\/p>\n

Constitutional law expert Volkan Aslan\u00a0called<\/a>\u00a0the ruling another stain on Turkey\u2019s legal record and called for penalties against public officials who refuse to enforce court judgments.<\/p>\n

Lawyer Levent Maz\u0131l\u0131g\u00fcney also called for Kavala\u2019s immediate release under the final Grand Chamber ruling.<\/p>\n

Kavala, 68, has been imprisoned since October 2017. He was sentenced in April 2022 to aggravated life imprisonment without parole on charges of attempting to overthrow the government by financing the Gezi Park protests, which began in \u0130stanbul in 2013.<\/p>\n

He was acquitted in February 2020 but was rearrested before leaving prison. Turkey\u2019s Supreme Court of Appeals upheld his conviction in September 2023.<\/p>\n

The ECtHR first ordered Kavala\u2019s release in 2019 after finding that his detention lacked reasonable grounds and sought to silence him. Turkey\u2019s refusal to comply prompted the Council of Europe\u2019s Committee of Ministers to launch infringement proceedings. The ECtHR ruled in 2022 that Turkey had failed to carry out the binding judgment.<\/p>\n

This article is republished from\u00a0Turkish Minute<\/a>.<\/p>\n