Kavala says it's impossible to counter allegations against him as they are so far from 'reality'

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Imprisoned businessperson and rights defender Osman Kavala has said that he is not optimistic about the "Human Rights Action Plan" announced by President and Justice and Development Party (AKP) Chair Recep Tayyip Erdoğan last week. 

"As someone who has been subjected to worsening injustice for more than three years, and at the same time observed other political cases, I can't be optimistic about the future of the relationship between politics and the judiciary," Kavala told Reuters in a written interview.

Charged with attempting to overthrow the government as well as other offenses in cases concerning the 2013 Gezi Park protests and the 2016 coup attempt, Kavala has been arrested since November 2017. He has not been released despite a European Court of Human Rights (ECtHR) judgment that his right to liberty security was violated.

After his acquittal in the Gezi trial was overturned, a court combined the two cases against Kavala in January.

"The judiciary has a key duty in eliminating dissidents"

"Ever since I can remember, I have witnessed rights being restricted in Turkey through the judiciary," Kavala said. "But giving the judiciary a key duty in eliminating political dissidents, and the judiciary taking this on, is new."

Responding to Kavala's claims, the Ministry of Justice told Reuters that the country's judiciary is independent.

About the calls for his release from other countries, including the US, and international organizations, Kavala said it is "extremely sad that foreigners care more about him than Turkey's civil servants and leaders."

He reiterated that the allegations against him were "baseless, absurd and surreal."

It was impossible to counter these allegations because they lacked "evidence, concrete fact, or reality," he added.

Kavala further said he now spends most of his time reading, watching concerts and film reruns.

"It makes the injustice feel like persecution," he said. (HA/VK)