The Constitutional Court has ruled that urban planner Tayfun Kahraman, one of the eight convicted defendants in the Gezi Park trial, was denied his right to a fair trial and must be retried.
In a decision released by the court’s General Assembly, a majority of justices concluded that the lower courts failed to properly assess key arguments and objections raised by the defense.
The ruling stated that “the principle of fair trial was violated” as the courts did not establish a causal link between Kahraman’s actions and the conviction in accordance with legal standards.
Kahraman had filed an individual application claiming that the criminal courts had issued a conviction without making relevant and adequate evaluations of his substantial objections, thus violating his right to a fair trial.
.jpg)
Who are the eight convicts of the Gezi case?
The Gezi Park protests of 2013, anti-government protests attended by millions of people across the country, were later classified by the judiciary as an attempted coup.
Kahraman and several others were charged with aiding an attempt to overthrow the government. He was sentenced to 18 years in prison on charges of aiding an attempt to dismantle the constitutional order, alongside other prominent defendants including architect Mücella Yapıcı, producer Çiğdem Mater Utku, and philantropist Osman Kavala, who received a life sentence.
The verdict issued by İstanbul’s 13th Heavy Penal Court was upheld first by the regional appeals court and later by the Court of Cassation’s 3rd Penal Chamber in 2022. Kahraman has been in prison since then. (
GEZİ TRIAL
Justified ruling in Gezi Trial: There are criminals but no crimes
VK)
