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Given a verdict of acquittal and release by the İstanbul 30th Heavy Penal Court in Gezi trial on February 18, businessperson and rights defender Osman Kavala was re-arrested one day later as part of an investigation launched into the attempted coup on July 15, 2016.
Speaking to bianet about the issue, Tolga Aytüre, the attorney of Kavala, has said, "There is no 93-hour phone conversation with Henri Barkey, as alleged. We have presented the Historical Traffic Search (HTS) records to the court."
As the reason for Kavala's arrest, it was claimed that he got in contact with Henri Barkey before the coup attempt on July 15, 2016 and their mobile phones sent signals from the same base stations in the same timeframe.
As part of the same investigation, there is a warrant against Henri Barkey, a former US Department of State officer and a professor of international relations from Lehigh University,
These allegations were also made in 2017. The alleged 93-hour phone call between Kavala and Barkey has been refuted by Kavala's attornies.
'No evidence could be found as to their phone calls'
A HTS report was prepared upon the request of the İstanbul 10th Penal Court of First Instance. The report covers the period from January 1, 2010 to July 15, 2017. The report has shown that there were no phone calls between Kavala's two phones and those of Barkey.
The HTS analysis report dated October 25, 2017 and presented to court by the attornies of Osman Kavala refers to Kavala's phone line in following words: "No communication records have been detected with the phone number 555 ... .. .., which is considered to be used by Henri Barkey."
Referring to the other phone numbers cited in the verdict of the İstanbul 10th Penal Judgeship of Peace no. 2017/...., the report also says that "between January 1, 2010 and July 15, 2017, no communication records have been detected between the phone numbers 532 ... .. .. and 554 ... .. .. with the phone number 1202..... considered to be used by Henri Barkey."
Aytöre: Impossible to comment within law
Speaking to bianet about the issue, Tolga Aytöre, one of the attorneys of Osman Kavala, has said that they presented the HTS records on the day when he was arrested, but he was still arrested despite this report.
Aytöre has stated, "There are no phone calls. We presented these HTS records to the court. But, they are the ones who claim the opposite. If there is a 93-hour phone conversation, then, go ahead and prove it. I am saying quite clearly: None of the verdicts of arrest is legal. As this case is not a legal one anymore, it is not possible to comment on it within the boundaries of law."
Barkey said he did not talk to Kavala
Speaking to Tunca Öğreten from Deutsche Welle (DW) Turkish, Henri Barkey said that he had no relations with Osman Kavala and they did not even talk on the phone:
"A prosecutor's office who alleged that I talked to Osman for 93 hours on the phone of his wife is not a serious prosecutor's office. I did not even talk to my wife that long. Moreover, I do not even know Osman's wife.
"I did not talk to Osman Kavala on the phone even for once. They are making that up to keep him behind bars."
About HTS report
A Historical Traffic Search (HTS) report includes certain information about the communication traffic of peoples' phones such as they called whom, who called them, for how long they talked on the phone, when and where they made the phone calls and which base stations that the signals of their phones intercepted. (HA/SD)
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