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Turkish philanthropist kept jailed hours after acquittal Turkish philanthropist detained in new case after acquittal
(about 4 hours later)
ISTANBUL — Turkish prosecutors detained a prominent philanthropist for alleged ties to a 2016 coup attempt Tuesday night, just hours after a court acquitted him on terrorism-related charges and ordered his release from jail after 840 days.ISTANBUL — Turkish prosecutors detained a prominent philanthropist for alleged ties to a 2016 coup attempt Tuesday night, just hours after a court acquitted him on terrorism-related charges and ordered his release from jail after 840 days.
The Istanbul prosecutor’s office said in a statement that it planned to appeal the verdict of a panel of judges finding Osman Kavala not guilty and setting him free. Prosecutors also ordered Kavala to remain jailed while he is investigated in a separate case. The Istanbul prosecutor’s office said in a statement that it planned to appeal the verdict by a panel of judges that found Osman Kavala not guilty of charges resulting from anti-government protests. While the judges also set Kavala free, prosecutors ordered him to be detained in a separate investigation involving the failed coup.
Earlier Tuesday, a panel of judges acquitted Kavala and eight other activists of charges related to anti-government protests in 2013. They were accused of organizing the protests in an attempt to overthrow the Turkish government. Earlier Tuesday, a court in Istanbul acquitted Kavala and eight other activists of organizing or aiding the 2013 protests in an attempt to overthrow the Turkish government.
The prosecutor’s office said it is investigating him for an attempted overthrow of the Turkish constitutional order through alleged links to the 2016 coup attempt. The Turkish government blames on U.S.-based cleric Fethullah Gulen. The prosecutor’s office said in a statement that he is under investigation now as a suspect in the attempted overthrow of the Turkish constitutional order through alleged links to the July 15, 2016 coup attempt.
More than a hundred supporters waiting to see Kavala, 65, walk free from the prison where he has spent more than two years in pretrial detention were stunned by the news. An anxious silence took over the crowd. More than a hundred supporters, among them artists, intellectuals and civil society figures, waited for hours to see Kavala walk free from a prison. The former businessman and founder of a nonprofit organization that focuses on cultural and artistic projects spent more than two years in pretrial detention.
Similar detention orders, overturning court decisions, have taken place before in the case of jailed writers. An anxious silence took over people in the stunned crowd when word of the new investigation reached them.
Kavala, 63, is a former entrepreneur who founded a nonprofit organization, Anadolu Kultur, that focuses on cultural and artistic projects promoting peace and dialogue. The 2013 protests at the center of the first case started to oppose the planned development of a small park in central Istanbul. The Gezi Park demonstrations grew into a wider protest movement across Turkey. In line with legal procedures for detained suspects, Kavala, 63, would be taken to a hospital for health checks, then to a police station and eventually to court for a hearing on whether he should be formally arrested or released pending trial.
Kavala was arrested in November 2017, four years after the protests. The European Court of Human Rights ruled for his immediate release in December, saying Kavala’s extended time in custody served “the ulterior purpose of reducing him to silence” with a “chilling effect on civil society.” Somewhat similar detention or arrest orders were issued in the cases of jailed writers and an opposition politician after courts ruled for their release from custody.
He rejected the accusation that he organized and financed the 2013 protests. He said he took part in peaceful activities to defend the environment and the park, which is near his office. The Turkish government blames U.S.-based Muslim cleric Fethullah Gulen for the failed coup and cracked down on his alleged followers, arresting tens of thousands of people under a state of emergency. Critics have said the wide net wrongly detained or fired from public service jobs people without links to the cleric’s network.
THIS IS A BREAKING NEWS UPDATE. AP’s earlier story follows below. The 2013 protests at the center of the first case were organized to oppose the planned development of a shopping mall on the site of a small park in central Istanbul. The Gezi Park demonstrations grew into a wider protest movement across Turkey.
A court in Istanbul on Tuesday acquitted nine leading Turkish civil society activists of terrorism-related charges related to anti-government protests, including a renowned philanthropist who has been jailed for more than two years. Kavala was arrested in November 2017. He rejected the accusation that he organized and financed the protests four years earlier, saying he took part in peaceful activities to defend the environment and the park near his office.
Critics saw the charges and resulting trial as a momentous bid by those in power to crack down on opposition voices and criminalize mass anti-government protests. A total of 16 people were accused of organizing or aiding in the 2013 protests in an attempt to violently overthrow the government. The European Court of Human Rights ruled for his immediate release in December, saying Kavala’s extended time in custody served “the ulterior purpose of reducing him to silence” with a “chilling effect on civil society.”
A panel of judges ordered the release of civil society defender and ex-businessman Osman Kavala, the only acquitted defendant still in custody. The panel said seven defendants who live abroad should be brought in for questioning. The court decision to acquit him fulfilled Turkey’s obligation to implement the European court’s ruling, but observers said the new detention order and investigation of Kavala would allow Turkey to bypass the human rights court.
Supporters broke into applause and tears when a judge quickly read the panel’s verdict for acquitting the activists instead of convicting them and imposing the lengthy sentences many had feared. The judge said Turkish authorities did not present enough “concrete and certain evidence” to convict. Emma Sinclair-Webb of Human Rights Watch described the detention warrant as “lawless and vindictive.”
“It’s a great verdict. Acquittal was the only thing that could be just. This is the verdict we should have been given two years ago,” Andrew Gardner of Amnesty International told The Associated Press. “We will have to see what comes next but today is a decision to celebrate.” Critics saw the terrorism-related charges brought against a total of 16 people as a momentous bid by those in power to crack down on opposition voices and criminalize mass anti-government protests.
The protests at the center of the case started to oppose the planned development of a small park in central Istanbul into an Ottoman-style shopping mall. The Gezi Park demonstrations grew into a wider protest movement across Turkey, challenging Turkey’s prime minister at the time and now president, Recep Tayyip Erdogan. More than 300 people attended the trial Tuesday, joining lawmakers, foreign delegates and rights group members at a courthouse near the Silivri maximum security prison campus. Hundreds of others waited outside.
Hours after the verdict, presidential spokesman Ibrahim Kalin said of the protests: “We should never get out of our minds that the process hurt Turkey as a whole.” Supporters broke into applause and tears when a judge quickly read the panel’s verdict for acquitting the nine activists instead of convicting them and imposing the lengthy sentences many had feared. The judge said Turkish authorities did not present enough “concrete and certain evidence” to convict.
More than 300 people came to watch the trial Tuesday, joining lawmakers, foreign delegates and rights group members at a courthouse near the Silivri maximum security prison campus, on the outskirts of Istanbul. Hundreds of others waited outside. “Complaints of the lawyer not being heeded by the court, statements by the defendants, really seemed to fall on deaf ears in terms of the panel of judges,” Andrew Gardner of Amnesty International said after the acquittal, describing the trial as a roller-coaster. “And then suddenly, for the judge to announce a not-guilty verdict for all, is incredible.”
Many observers burst into applause when Kavala entered the courtroom and after some of the testimony, prompting warnings from the court. The atmosphere was tense. The court rejected requests to hear the testimony of defense witnesses and to give the defendants more time to respond to the prosecutor’s sentencing statement. The prosecutor had sought a life sentence in solitary confinement without parole for Kavala, architect Mucella Yapici and Yigit Aksakoglu, who spent 221 days in pretrial detention. They denied trying to overthrow the government and say the protests were an exercise of democratic rights.
The tension built to an uproar when security forces tried to remove a defense lawyer from the courtroom. Officers in riot gear arrived after members of the audience and lawyers loudly voiced their objections. After hearing about the new detention order for Kavala, Yapici tweeted: “Once again, a freakishness of the law, first you linked him to Gezi in an unrelated and illegal way and now July 15... Pity this country.”
“Complaints of the lawyer not being heeded by the court, statements by the defendants, really seemed to fall on deaf ears in terms of the panel of judges,” Gardner said, describing the trial as a roller-coaster. “And then suddenly, for the judge to announce a not-guilty verdict for all, is incredible.”
The prosecutor had sought a life sentence in solitary confinement without parole for Kavala, architect Mucella Yapici and Yigit Aksakoglu, who works on early childhood development and spent 221 days in pretrial detention. They denied trying to overthrow the government and say the protests were an exercise of democratic rights.
Kavala, 63, founded a nonprofit organization, Anadolu Kultur, that focuses on cultural and artistic projects promoting peace and dialogue. He rejected the accusation that he organized and financed the 2013 protests. He said he took part in peaceful activities to defend the environment and the park, which is near his office.
Kavala was arrested in November 2017, four years after the protests. The European Court of Human Rights ruled for his immediate release in December, saying Kavala’s extended time in custody served “the ulterior purpose of reducing him to silence” with a “chilling effect on civil society.”
The Istanbul court did not heed the European court’s order during two previous hearings but ruled in favor of Kavala’s release. More than a hundred of his supporters waited near the prison Tuesday evening in hopes of seeing him walk free.
Prosecutors had requested prison terms of 15-20 years for the six other acquitted defendants - filmmakers, a lawyer and an urban planner - charged with aiding the attempt to overthrow the government.
The urban planner, Tayfun Kahraman, tweeted after his acquittal: “The Gezi trial finally ended with the decision that was deserved. We have always stood up straight with your support for our struggle to defend Gezi and our city.”
An estimated 3.6 million people joined the Gezi Park protests, according to government estimates, and thousands were injured. Police used tear gas and water cannons to disperse mostly peaceful protesters and were accused of using excessive force.An estimated 3.6 million people joined the Gezi Park protests, according to government estimates, and thousands were injured. Police used tear gas and water cannons to disperse mostly peaceful protesters and were accused of using excessive force.
The Turkish Bar Association put the number of people killed during the anti-government protests at 15, including a police officer. Prosecutors said in their criminal indictment that there were five protest-related deaths.The Turkish Bar Association put the number of people killed during the anti-government protests at 15, including a police officer. Prosecutors said in their criminal indictment that there were five protest-related deaths.
The discrepancy stems from the bar association’s inclusion of deaths from heart attacks and cerebral hemorrhages thought to be caused by pepper spray, as well as of people killed at other protests during the same period.The discrepancy stems from the bar association’s inclusion of deaths from heart attacks and cerebral hemorrhages thought to be caused by pepper spray, as well as of people killed at other protests during the same period.
Hours after the verdict, presidential spokesman Ibrahim Kalin said of the protests: “We should never get out of our minds that the process hurt Turkey as a whole.”
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Robert Badendieck in Istanbul and Suzan Fraser in Ankara, Turkey contributed to this report.Robert Badendieck in Istanbul and Suzan Fraser in Ankara, Turkey contributed to this report.
Copyright 2020 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed without permission.Copyright 2020 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed without permission.