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Constitutional Court ruling on Osman Kavala “rubs salt into the wound of injustice”

Milena Buyum: 'Today's inexplicable decision by Turkey's highest court rubs salt into the wound of injustice. Osman Kavala's rights have been abused. He should not have spent a single day behind bars, let alone nearly 600 days.'

Amnesty International, 22 May 2019

Ayşenur Zarakolu Freedom of Thought and Expression Awards Granted for 17th Time

The 17th Ayşenur Zarakolu Freedom of Thought and Expression Awards have been granted to Prof. Dr. Şebnem Korur-Fincancı, Ayşe Düzkan and Osman Kavala, “who have suffered oppression due to their freedom of expression activities.”

Bianet, 9 May 2019

Baseless Charges Over Landmark 2013 Protests

Human Rights Watch analyzed the indictment and found an acute lack of specificity to the allegations it contains. The prosecutor has made no serious attempt to discover a causal link between the alleged evidence cited against the defendants and the charges against them.

HRW, 25 March 2019

Amnesty International: Release Osman Kavala and Yiğit Aksakoğlu

The Amnesty International has launched an urgent action campaign for Osman Kavala, Yiğit Aksakoğlu and 14 other rights defenders: "The indictment attempts to rewrite the history of the Gezi Park protests and silence some of Turkey's most prominent civil society figures."

Bianet, 12 March 2019

Osman Kavala’s Attorney İlkan Koyuncu: Indictment Misreads Gezi

Speaking to bianet about the Gezi indictment, İlkan Koyuncu, the attorney of Osman Kavala, has said, 'This indictment shows that they have imprisoned Kavala all for nothing for 16 months.'

Bianet, 6 March 2019

Controversial judicial decisions cause Turkey’s biggest problem to resurface

The current practices of the judicial system reveal the fact that these problems need immediate and substantive remedies. A failure in delivering drastic and structural changes in the justice system will unfortunately further distance Turkey from the universally-approved value-based system.

Serkan Demirtaş, 23 February 2019

EU: Gezi Park Indictment Creates a Climate of Fear

'The indictments announced yesterday against Osman Kavala and 15 others raise questions as to the adherence of the Turkish judiciary to international and European standards' said the EU Spokesperson for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy

22 February 2019

Osman Kavala, 15 Rights Defenders Facing Life Sentence Over Gezi Park Protests

The indictment for 16 rights defenders including Osman Kavala and Yiğit Aksakoğlu has been prepared. It alleges that the 16 people are the "head executives" who organized the Gezi Park protests.

Bianet, 20 February 2019

Second New Year’s Eve in Silivri: The priority of the judiciary should be respect for individual freedom

In this environment, seeing some of the prisoners and convicts that I know, listening to the stories of those that I do not know, invites me to wonder how this unjust system works, how the decisions about arrest warrants, serious criminal charges, life sentences are taken easily.

Osman Kavala, 31 December 2018

Observations on 'Osman Kavala': Gezi Cannot Have Been Organized by Single Person

Council of Europe Commissioner for Human Rights Mijatovič, who intervened in the case of Kavala at ECtHR, has submitted her written observations to the court: "The thesis that Gezi could have been orchestrated by a single person has no credibility."

Bianet, 15 January 2019

A panel in honor of Osman Kavala at Columbia University

On 27 November 2018, a panel titled "The Threat to Freedom of Expression and the Majoritarian States" was organized in honor of Osman Kavala at Columbia University.

27 November 2018

Has Turkey really lifted the state of emergency?

The government needs to do more in reversing this picture and convincing public opinion that the state of emergency has been lifted in real terms. As a matter of fact, that will not only help heal Turkey-EU ties but also accelerate the normalization process in the country.

Serkan Demirtaş, 10 November 2018

Erdogan Champions Khashoggi While Trampling Journalists and Dissidents in Turkey

Mr. Kavala’s case is one of the most emblematic illustrations of the increasing authoritarianism.

Carlotta Gall, 6 November 2018

Still no charges for Turkey's top philanthropist after year behind bars

For those unfamiliar with why Osman Kavala matters for Turkey, a nutshell description would be that he is a civil society leader and philanthropist who stands out as the most prominent link between Turkish civil society and the outside world.

Kadri Gürsel, 5 November 2018

Can Osman Kavala trust the Turkish justice system?

Whatever activity he undertook, he did not do it just for himself. So it might appear only natural that even in his current circumstances, instead of keeping the spotlight on himself, he chose to underline an understanding that is leaving many victims behind.

Barçin Yinanç, 1 November 2018

  

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