Turkish court combines two cases against jailed philanthropist Kavala (updated)
05/02/2021 15:42
(Adds quotes from Kavala and lawyer in court, background)
By Ali Kucukgocmen
ISTANBUL, Feb 5 (Reuters) - A Turkish court on Friday ruled
to combine the two cases against philanthropist Osman Kavala,
who has been detained more than three years without conviction,
after an appeals court overturned his acquittal in one of them.
Immediately after he and eight others were acquitted last
February in a case related to nationwide Gezi Park protests in
2013, Kavala was ordered jailed pending trial over charges
related to a 2016 coup attempt. The acquittal verdict was also
appealed.
Last month, the appeals court ruled to overturn the
Gezi-related verdicts because some evidence was excluded and
that it should be joined with the other case against Kavala.
urn:newsml:reuters.com:*:nL8N2JX49I
On Friday, the court handling the coup-related case agreed
to the combination and rejected Kavala's request to be released,
extending his detention since late 2017 by nearly four months.
Kavala is accused of espionage and attempting to overthrow
the constitutional order in the coup-related case. He denies all
charges. urn:newsml:reuters.com:*:nL1N2IY0VJ
"The prosecution seeks to create a certain perception by
blending a number of conspiracy theories and accusations as if
they were proving one another," Kavala told the court, adding
the accusations were baseless.
The overturning of the Gezi ruling will allow the "extension
of the espionage charges which are collapsing" as well as the
duration of his detention, Kavala, 63, said.
Critics say Turkey's judiciary has been exploited to punish
President Tayyip Erdogan's perceived opponents and that Kavala's
case is symbolic of a crackdown on dissent. The president and
his ruling AK Party say the courts are independent.
The European Court of Human Rights called for Kavala's
release in late 2019, saying his detention aimed to silence him.
The Council of Europe's Committee of Ministers have repeatedly
called on Turkey to implement the ruling.
Kavala's lawyer Tolga Aytore told the court none of the
witnesses had any information supporting the accusations.
"Whenever the prosecution process gets to a stage where
(Kavala's) release is possible, we face something else. It is
very upsetting that our justice system is getting used to this,"
he said.
Some of the defendants in the Gezi trial were also acquitted
in a previous case, meaning they will be tried for a third time
over the 2013 protests. The first hearing in the retrial is
scheduled for May 21.
(Additional reporting by Ezgi Erkoyun; Editing by Dominic Evans
and Jonathan Spicer)
((ezgi.erkoyun@thomsonreuters.com; +90-212-350 7051; Reuters
Messaging: ezgi.erkoyun.thomsonreuters.com@reuters.net;))