After the Constitutional Court (AYM) rejected his application, businessperson and human rights defender Osman Kavala made a statement regarding the incident. Kavala who has been kept in prison for 1,156 days said:
“It is preposterous that the Constitutional Court concluded that my detention, based on the espionage charge, which was invented at the last moment, did not comply with the definition in the law, and did not rely on any evidence, was lawful.”
Osman Kavala stated that “the behavior of the majority in the court does not comply with the legal norms and it is extremely worrying.” he added:
“The most common and severe problem in the judiciary is the detention practices taken under the influence of political messages and the presiding political environment, which are not based on solid reasons and have become to be used as a punishment,” he said.
In the statement Kavala sent via his attorneys from prison he also stated that in making detention decisions, the possibility of the accused’s right to liberty is weighed against the possibility of their committing an action harmful to society and justice.
“It is the universal right that is certain; the other is just a possibility. Possibility to be a reason for restricting the right to freedom can only be justified in exceptional circumstances. This is the binding norm that the European Convention on Human Rights and our Constitution demand to be followed.” Kavala said.
Osman Kavala was detained on 18 October 2017 and after 15 days in custody, he was arrested on 1 November over the accusations of “leading Gezi protests” and “attending the July 15 coup attempt” and was imprisoned in Silivri Prison, Istanbul. Three years has passed and he is still behind bars.
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Turkish businessman Osman Kavala has been in prison for three years
