NEWS

Date published: 13 September 2021 15:58

~ Modified On: 14 September 2021 10:39

8 min Read

RIGHTS ORGANIZATONS

‘Ensure implementation of ECtHR judgement, release Osman Kavala’

Rights organizations have released a joint statement ahead of the meeting of the Committee of Ministers of the Council of Europe: “We demand the ECtHR’s ruling to be implemented and Osman Kavala to be released immediately.”

İstanbul

‘Ensure implementation of ECtHR judgement, release Osman Kavala’

Click to read the article in Turkish / Kurdish

Businessperson and rights defender Osman Kavala has been behind bars in Turkey for 1,413 days as of today (September 13).

Ahead of the meeting of the Committee of Ministers of the Council of Europe, which is responsible for overseeing the implementation of the judgements of the European Court of Human Rights (ECtHR), a group of rights organizations have released a joint statement.

Recalling that the Committee of Ministers will "meet tomorrow to hold its quarterly routine meeting," the organizations have underlined that "the measures that could be adopted due to Turkey's failure to implement the Kavala judgement are also on the agenda of this meeting."

Ahead of this meeting, the organizations have said:

We, undersigned human rights organizations, demand the ECtHR's ruling to be implemented and Osman Kavala to be released immediately. Otherwise, we call on the Committee of Ministers to take all necessary measures to ensure the implementation of the judgment.

Other highlights from the statement are as follows:

'The crime not found, Gezi instrumentalized'

"The ECtHR announced its judgement on Osman Kavala's individual application on December 10, 2019 and ruled that Kavala's detention violated his right to personal liberty and security and demanded his immediate release. The Court's ruling also provided an analysis which closely concerns human rights defenders in Turkey by establishing that Kavala's detention had a political motive with reference to Article 18 of the ECHR.

"The Court underlined that Kavala's imprisonment aimed to silence all human rights defenders and the civil society in Turkey.

"Following this decision, nine defendants, including Osman Kavala, were acquitted during the final hearing of the Gezi trial on February 18, 2020. However, Kavala was taken into custody while he exited the prison and was arrested a day later as part of another investigation seeking his arrest, in which a judge has previously ordered for his release.

"In the days when the indictment regarding the second investigation was expected to be prepared, the decision of the ECtHR became final on May 12, 2020. The Grand Chamber of the ECtHR rejected the application of Turkey, who appealed the decision, and ruled that the decision was final.

"This judgement, which confirms that our colleague Kavala is held behind bars with a political motive, has not been implemented thus far. Since then, a new indictment has been prepared against him, alleging that he orchestrated the July 15 coup attempt while imputing an espionage charge.

While no concrete evidence could be reached in this case, we learned that the acquittal verdicts in the Gezi trial were overturned by an appellate court in January 2021.

"Since then, the July 15 coup attempt and the Gezi cases were merged, and the trial of Kavala and the other defendants continued over a single file.

"Most recently, Kavala's case was merged with another case where the Court of Cassation has overturned the acquittals of 35 members of the Beşiktaş football fan club Çarşı, six years after they were cleared of charges related to the Gezi Park protests.

"The decision of merging cases, which also has legal irregularities, turned the Gezi file into a 'sack case' which includes unrelated events with an overcrowded list of defendants. As a result, the Gezi case now serves as an instrument to prolong Osman Kavala's unlawful imprisonment.

"Although the Government of Turkey continues to argue in its defense that the above-mentioned legal developments invalidate the ECtHR's December 2019 ruling, the Committee of Ministers insist on the opinion that the violation of Osman Kavala's rights as identified in the 2019 ruling persist.

"In contrast to the Government's claims, no evidence against Kavala has been presented since the European court judgement and the crime they've been looking for could not be found.

"In the four years since his arrest, a process in which all legal procedures and traditions have been razed, a new excuse has been introduced at every important legal stage which might lead to Kavala's release.

"We, undersigned human rights organizations, demand the ECtHR's ruling to be implemented and Osman Kavala to be released immediately. Otherwise, we call on the Committee of Ministers to take all necessary measures to ensure the implementation of the judgment."

The undersigned

Civil Rights Defenders
Association for Monitoring Equal Rights
Truth Justice Memory Center
Human Rights Association (İHD) Istanbul Branch
Human Rights Agenda Association
Media and Law Studies Association (MLSA)
Research Institute on Turkey (RIT)
Rosa Women's Association
Human Rights Foundation of Turkey (TİHV)
Citizens' Assembly Turkey

A brief summary of Osman Kavala's detention

17 October 2017: Osman Kavala was detained.

1 November 2017: Kavala was ordered arrest on the charges of 'attempting to overthrow the government or to prevent it from exercising its functions' (Article 312 of the TCC) and 'attempting to overthrow the constitutional order through force and violence' (Article 309 of the TCC).

24 December 2018: The investigation files under Article 309 and 312 of the TCC were separated.

19 February 2019: The first indictment against Kavala was issued under Article 312 of the TCC 16 months after he was arrested.

11 October 2019: A release order was issued in favor of Kavala on the charge under Article 309 of the TCC.

10 December 2019: The ECtHR ruled that Kavala's detention constituted a violation of human rights and that he should be released immediately.

18 February 2020: A decision of acquittal was issued in the trial heard under Article 312 of the TCC.

19 February 2020: After the decision of acquittal, Kavala was not released but was arrested again on the charge under Article 309 of the TCC.

9 March 2020: Kavala was ordered arrest under Article 328 of the TCC.

20 March 2020: The second release order was issued in favor of Kavala under Article 309 of the TCC. However, his detention on the charge of espionage under Article 328 of the TCC continued.

3 September 2020: The Committee of Ministers of the Council of Europe, which oversees the execution of the judgments of the ECtHR, ruled that the judgment of the ECtHR should be executed and that Kavala should be released immediately.

29 September 2020: The Constitutional Court of the Republic of Turkey decided to examine the application of Kavala regarding his unlawful detention. However, it postponed the examination as the second indictment including the charges under Articles 309 and 328 (espionage) of the TCC was submitted to the court on the same day.

29 September 2020: In the second meeting in which this matter was discussed, the Committee of Ministers of the Council of Europe ruled that an interim decision should be drafted to be issued in the event that the judgment of the ECtHR is not executed.

3 December 2020: The Committee of Ministers of the Council of Europe issued an interim decision that Kavala should be released immediately and that the Constitutional Court should examine the file in accordance with the judgment of the ECtHR without further delay.

15 December 2020: The Constitutional Court decided to examine the application regarding the unlawful detention and ruled that the file should be referred to the General Assembly of the Constitutional Court.

18 December 2020: The 36th Assize Court ruled that the detention shall continue. The second hearing was scheduled on 5 February.

29 December 2020: The Constitutional Court ruled with 8 to 7 votes that the decision of Kavala did not constitute any violation of right. The reasoned judgment included the strongly dissenting opinions of the judges who voted that the detention constituted a violation of rights.

22 January 2021: The Appellate Court overturned the decision of acquittal in the Gezi trial. It ruled that the file concerning this trial shall be examined together with the files under Articles 309 and 328 of the TCC.

28 January 2021: After the decision of acquittal was overturned, the 30th Assize Court issued a preliminary proceedings report and scheduled the trial concerning the consolidated files on 21 May 2021.

5 February 2021: In the trial heard in the 36th Assize Court, the Court ruled that Kavala's trial shall be consolidated with the Gezi Trial, which will be heard again in the 30th Assize Court under Article 312 of the TCC, and that the detention of Kavala on the charges of espionage under Article 328 of the TCC shall continue.

30 April 2021: As a result of its examination of the detention, the 30th Assize Court ruled that the detention of Kavala shall continue.

12 May 2021: In its weekly meeting of 12 May 2021, the Committee of Ministers of the Council of Europe reviewed Kavala's file and expressed their great concern that Turkish authorities and courts did not take the necessary steps to end Kavala's the continued detention against the judgment of the ECtHR. The Committee urged the member states to bring up the continued detention and immediate release of Kavala during their meetings with Turkish authorities. It pointed out that the detention of Kavala would be reviewed again by the 30th Assize Court on 21 May 2021, and urged the authorities to take all the necessary steps to ensure the release of Kavala.

(EMK/SD)