Kavala : Conscience prevents judges deviating from principles

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Osman Kavala, who was sentenced to aggravated life imprisonment in Gezi Trial, made a statement from prison regarding the justified ruling of the court in Gezi Trial which was announced on June 7.

The İstanbul 13th Heavy Penal Court announced its justified ruling regarding the Gezi Trial on Jun 7 in which Osman Kavala was given aggravated life imprisonment for "attempted overthrow," while the other defendants Mücella Yapıcı, Can Atalay, Tayfun Kahraman, Ali Hakan Altınay, Yiğit Ali Ekmekçi, Çiğdem Mater and Mine Özerden had been sentenced to 18 years in prison for assisting this crime.

"In the first indictment, I was accused of being the leader of the Gezi protests. In the justified ruling, it was claimed that I was a mentor to the protesters. It is unknown for which crime I gave advice to them." Kavala said:

"In a state of law, the obligation of the judges is to make evaluations by examining the facts objectively, and to verdict a conviction if concrete evidence shows that a crime has been committed in a way that leaves no room for doubt."

"Their conscience prevents the judges from deviating from the principles and legal norms due to reasons such as financial interests, ideological beliefs, and political pressure. In a state of law, it is not possible to explain a person's life imprisonment with conscience without any concrete evidence showing that a crime has been committed."

What happened?

The İstanbul 13th Heavy Penal Court announced its justified ruling regarding the Gezi Trial on June 7.

In the justified ruling, the court stated that Gezi Protests were organized by Kavala and said that "Kavala has close connections with George Soros."

It was also claimed that preparations for the Gezi Protests started in 2012 and all international initiatives regarding Gezi Protests were established by Kavala.

CLICK - Justified ruling in Gezi Trial: There are criminals but no crimes

(RT/TB)