Amnesty International: Osman Kavala and Yiğit Aksakoğlu Must be Released

Click to read the article in Turkish / Kurdish

The İstanbul Chief Public Prosecutor's Office yesterday (February 21) announced the bill of indictment for the case of the Gezi Park protests which took place in 2013.

While the full text of the 657-page indictment has not been shared with the public, the Prosecutor's Office briefed the reporters at the İstanbul Courthouse.

Accordingly, 16 right defenders including businessperson Osman Kavala and civil society figure Yiğit Aksakoğlu are facing aggravated life imprisonment for organizing the Gezi Park protests, which were attended by millions of people.

CLICK - Osman Kavala, 15 Rights Defenders Facing Life Sentence Over Gezi Park protests

"Attempt to silence civil society figures"

Making a statement about the indictment, Amnesty International's Turkey Strategy and Research Manager Andrew Gardner has said,

"These outlandish allegations are an attempt to rewrite history and to silence some of Turkey's most prominent civil society figures who now face the prospect of being tried by Turkey's deeply flawed justice system.

"Almost six years after the Gezi Park protests saw tens of thousands of people peacefully protesting against state repression, this indictment - if accepted by the court - could see the accused facing a lifetime behind bars without the possibility of parole."

"Charges must be dropped"

"The Gezi protests were overwhelmingly peaceful with people simply exercising their rights. They were met by arbitrary and abusive force by police.

"It should be the authorities' denial of these rights and the police violence against peaceful protestors that should be examined by the courts, not these 16 civil society figures who have not committed any crime.

"These charges must be dropped and Osman Kavala, who has been in jail on pretrial detention for almost 16 months, and Yiğit Aksakoğlu, who has been in prison for four months, must be immediately released." (EMK/VK)