Gezi Trial: Arrest of Kavala to Continue

*Presiding judge removed drawers from the courtroom. (Photo: Tarık Tolunay / Twitter)

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The third hearing of the Gezi Park trial has been held at İstanbul 30th Heavy Penal Court in Silivri.

The court ruled for the arrest of businessperson Osman Kavala to continue due to charges against him raising the "suspicion of escape."

Sixteen people, including Kavala who has been in prison for 707 days, are charged with "attempting to overthrow the government of the Republic of Turkey".

All defendants completed reading their defense statements in the first hearing on June 24. The court ruled in an interim decision for the release of Yiğit Aksakoğlu, while Kavala remained the only defendant behind bars.

Attorneys of the defendants read their statements in the second hearing on July 17. Attorney Fikret İlkiz said, "33th Penal Court of First Instance already had this trial and all the defendants were acquitted. A second case for the same offense cannot be opened," in his defense statement.

Judge bans drawing

The presiding judge banned drawing unlike the previous hearings and ordered that drawer Tarık Tolunay shall be sent out of the courtroom.

"We have a brand new ban. We were sent out of the courtroom upon an order by the presiding in the Gezi case which we participated as court drawers. Here is my incomplete drawing," said Tolunay in a tweet with the image of the drawing.

Three witnesses who were going to attend the hearing via teleconference were not able to give a statement due to a malfunction in the Audio and Video Information System (SEGBİS). Those witnesses were Murat Pabuç, who accused Kavala of several charges in the third hearing, Ercan Orhan Aydın, a squad leader at the İstanbul Security Directorate Security Branch Directorate during the Gezi protests, and Hasan Gül, the assistant of Pabuç.

Kavala: I did not provide financial support

After the SEGBİS connection failed, Osman Kavala began to answer questions of the judge.

Judge: Did you take part in the founding of Taksim Platform?
Kavala: No, but I attained some meetings.

J: Do you know anything about the Ayaklanİstanbul Facebook page?
O.K: No. My first contact regarding Gezi happened after the Gezi events began, it was a telephone call in June 2013. I had nothing to do with activities before Gezi began. I provided no monetary support whatsoever.

J: Do you know Otpor leader Ivan Marovic?
O.K: No, I don't. I have never met him. I heard about him when I read his name in the indictment.

Osman Kavala (Drawing: Murat Başol)

J: There is the claim that a theatre play was staged that encouraged an uprising against the president. Do you know this play, have you seen it?
O.K: I don't know anything about it, I haven't seen it. I met Alabora for the first time after Gezi began, in June 2013.

J: There is the claim that a theatre play was staged that encouraged an uprising against the president. Do you know this play, have you seen it?
O.K: I don't know anything about it, I haven't seen it. I met Alabora for the first time after Gezi began, in June 2013.

J: Did you go when calls were made, saying "They are cutting down the trees"?
O.K: I didn't go because of the calls. My office was close to Gezi Park anyway. I went a few times to Gezi, but not because of the calls.

'Burden of proof lies with the one who lays charges'

J: Alabora tweeted, "It's not only about a few trees". Have you made any written statement that proves you said, "We are only concerned about Gezi Park. We acted in ecological sensitivity. We don't agree with this"?
O.K: The burden of proof lies with the one who lays charges.

J: Do you know Soros?
O.K: I do.
J: Since when?
O.K: Since around 2008. Then I became a board member of the Open Society Foundation in Turkey. So when Soros came to Istanbul, I took part in meetings.

J: Photos were seized on your mobile phone of a map of bee species, and of a Halk Cephesi banner. Why are they there?
O.K: It's a map about bee species in Turkey. I am interested in endemic plants and animals. There is no political content. There are various photos on my mobile.

J: Do you have representative offices in Eastern and Southeastern provinces?
O.K: We opened the Diyarbakır Art Centre. We realized various cultural activities.

'My arrests is violation of rights'

Osman Kavala then began to read out his statement:

"The accusations I face are based on opinions and assumptions. There is no finding in the indictment showing that I funded the Gezi events. There is no finding showing that I perceived Gezi as an uprising against the government either.

"My activities and my telephone calls are constitutionally protected activities. As the President of the Constitutional Court has stated, my arrest without criminal evidence is a rights violation.

"That I've been kept in custody for so long so the court can find evidence is a further rights violation. This is an unlawful, discriminatory practice which has turned into a punishment in itself. I demand that the court bring an end to this unlawful, discriminatory practice."

Yapıcı: Organizing Gezi was 'impossible' 

Mücella Yapıcı was questioned by the judge after a 10-minute break.

Judge: When did you found Taksim Solidarity?
Yapıcı: There was an unlawful change in plan regarding Taksim Square. So Taksim Solidarity was founded on July 15, 2012 to file a court case against this unlawful act.

J: Do you know Ivan Marovic?
M.Y: No, I don't.

J: Do you know about the play Mi Minör?
M.Y: No, but you can't start an uprising with a theatre play.

J: Did you play any role in Taksim Solidarity's tweet that made a call to the park?
M.Y: All the calls by the Taksim Solidarity calls are made on the basis of collective decisions. I was part of the secretariat. We tried to find out if the diggers entering the park had permission. They didn't. The digger had already severed electricity and water lines of the park. We warned them. But we were met with extreme violence. I was sprayed with pepper gas from 5 cm. I suffered gastrointestinal bleeding as a result. We were so right in what we defended. Yet we are here now.

J: "This is the beginning, let's continue the struggle", what is the message of this slogan?
M.Y: The message is to save the park. This is how all struggles begin and continue.

J: There is the claim that you organized the Gezi actions.
M.Y: We said what we thought was wrong, but it was impossible for us to organize Gezi.

J: Did you attend any meetings abroad about Gezi?
M.Y:No.

J: Do you know about Mi Minör?
M.Y: No, I first read about it in the indictment. But a theater play can't overthrow a government.

Pots and pans can't overthrow a government'

J: Were you involved in tweets calling people to make noise with their car horns, and pots and pans?
M.Y: I ask you not to read it like that. We lost eight people because of that violence. No car horn or pots and pans can overthrow a government.

J: Administrations make decisions. If you're not happy, you apply. But here, vandalism. Didn't you consider that it got out of hand?
M.Y: Our solidarity was open, respectful, and we won. It wasn't only about trees: With the recent earthquake, the park remains the only gathering site.

J: Why did you resist without waiting for a court decision?
M.Y: Police acted unlawfully.

J: You said you wanted a revolution.
M.Y: I use that term a lot, like slicing a watermelon.

J: Like overthrowing the government?
M.Y: There are many types, there is the sexual revolution.

J: You told journalist Enver Aysever that you would vouch for everything [about Gezi]?
M.Y: I did.

J: What about that footage?
M.Y: There are millions of people there. Gezi is an objection. It is a democratic, peaceful act.

Atalay: Gezi is the hope for justice, freedom and equality

Can Atalay was questioned after Yapıcı.

J: You said to the crowd, "Tomorrow is an important day, they may try to root out the trees." You also said, "The state is a murderer, it will be held accountable".
C.A: The 2nd part of your q is about Gezi's 1st anniversary, therefore unrelated.

J: To use an everyday term, it is claimed that you tried to blow into the ashes?

C.A: We did nothing of the sort. We do our job. As for the first part of the question, the government tried to construct on the last remaining green space in Taksim. So we filed a court case.

Until May 27, we collected signatures. After 27 May, we exercised our right to object. As for 31 May, on that day, esteemed judges, everyone in Turkey picked up their own objections and turned up.

I am a lawyer. I have been the lawyer of the Chamber of Architects for 12 years. We used our constitutional right. A first-year urban planning student can tell you that this project is unacceptable, that it is a scandal.

And we knew it would be cancelled. The verdict of cancellation was concealed from us. The indictment claims we have links to Fethullahists. We called them the Fethullahist gang when at their most powerful. Most of the police chiefs that murdered our friends were Fethullahists.

Neither Taksim solidarity nor any other organization owns Gezi. Taksim Solidarity tried to act as the translator of millions of people. A case should be filed against those who committed the crime! Gezi is the hope for justice, freedom and equality of these lands!

Interim decision

After the questioning of the defendants, attorneys read out statements.

The prosecutor requested the continuation of Kavala's arrest considering the essence of the offenses that he is charged with. He also requested that the implementation of the arrest warrants against fugitive defendants be waited for.

Approving both requests, the court ruled for the continuation of Kavala's arrest due to charges against him raising the "suspicion of escape."

The next hearing will be held on December 24-25. (HA/VK)

*Statements: Defending Gezi