Osman Kavala, who\nspent 840 days behind bars based on groundless accusations and unlawful\npractices, was released following his acquittal in the Gezi Park trial on 18\nFebruary 2020. However, he was promptly re-arrested on charges related to the\nfailed coup attempt of July 15 despite this release order.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Osman Kavala\u2019s\nre-arrest is an example of maltreatment, as defined by the Council of Europe\nCommissioner for Human Rights Dunja Mijatovi\u0107 as well. The punitive decision of\nre-arrest, which constitutes violations to both national and international law,\nshould be revoked and Osman Kavala must be released immediately. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
When Osman Kavala\nwas taken into police custody on 18 October 2017, this custody order was not\nissued solely based on the Gezi investigation. The file opened against Kavala\nat that time also included an investigation in connection with \u201cthe July 15\ncoup attempt\u201d under Article 309 of Turkish Penal Code (TPC). In this\ninvestigation, an ex-officio release order was issued per Article 309 on 11\nOctober 2019. An indictment has not been prepared thus far although this\ninvestigation was launched more than two years ago.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Existing legislation orders that the duration of the detainment\ncannot exceed two years if there is no indictment. Osman Kavala\u2019s investigation\nfile based on Article 309 of TPC exceeded two years as of 25 February 2020. Therefore,\nKavala\u2019s re-arrest violates the Law no. 7188 on Amending the Code of Criminal\nProcedure and Certain Laws, which took effect on 24 October 2019. This new\nregulation stipulates that a suspect cannot be detained for more than two years\nwithout the presence of a lawsuit against them. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
Following his\ncustody on 18 February 2020, Osman Kavala was referred to the Criminal Peace\nJudgeship with the prosecutor demanding his arrest without conducting a new\ninterrogation at the police station or the Prosecutor\u2019s office. This clearly\nshows that Kavala\u2019s re-arrest was not grounded on any evidence or intelligence\nrevealed during the last 28 months. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
Hence, there is a\nclear legal obligation<\/strong> to release\nOsman Kavala in relation to this file on 25 February 2020. Petitions from\nlawyers or the initiative of judges and prosecutors are not even needed for\nthis release order, as the legislation already stipulates that Kavala should be\nreleased.<\/p>\n\n\n\n This arrest order\nagainst Osman Kavala and his continued detention have no legal ground\nwhatsoever. This arrest order is the result of a politically motivated\ndetermination to keep Osman Kavala behind bars, and a willingness to abuse the\nlaw as a means to this end.<\/p>\n\n\n\n President Recep\nTayyip Erdo\u011fan\u2019s statement, \u201cThey attempted to acquit him with a maneuver,\u201d that\ncame while Osman Kavala was under custody has proved that Kavala\u2019s re-arrest\nhas a political motive. This is an overt repetition of Osman Kavala\u2019s arrest for\n\u201cpolitical reasons and without reasonable suspicion\u201d, a practice which the\nEuropean Court of Human Rights (ECtHR) decision dated 10 December 2019 defines\nas a violation of Article 18 of the European Convention on Human Rights. <\/p>\n\n\n\n The ECtHR also examined\nthe allegation that Kavala \u201cattempted to destroy the constitutional order of\nthe Republic of Turkey\u201d under Article 309 of the TPC, which is used to justify\nKavala\u2019s re-arrest, in its judgement. Therefore, ECtHR\u2019s call for \u201cimmediate\nrelease\u201d refers not only to the Gezi Trial and encompasses the 15 July\ninvestigation as well.<\/p>\n\n\n\n We, human rights\ndefenders, demand Osman Kavala\u2019s immediate release. Turkey must abide by the\nnational legislation and the ECtHR judgment; stop manipulating the law as a\ntool for harassment and revenge; and ensure the rule of law prevails for all\ncitizens including Osman Kavala.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Solidarity Network for Human Rights Defenders\n– Turkey<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n Amnesty International, Association for Monitoring Equal Rights<\/strong>, Citizens\u2019 Assembly Turkey, Civic Space Studies Association, <\/strong>Civil Rights Defenders, Human Rights Association,<\/strong> Human Rights Agenda Association, Human Rights Foundation of Turkey,<\/strong> Initiative for Freedom of Expression, Kaos GL,<\/strong> Life Memory Freedom Association, Media and Law Studies Association<\/strong>, SPOD, Punto24 Association for Independent Journalism<\/strong>, Research Institute on Turkey, The Rights Initiative,<\/strong> Truth Justice Memory Center, Turkish-German Forum of Culture<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n Solidarity\nNetwork for Human Rights Defenders \u2013 Turkey is a network of human rights\norganisations which insists that defending human rights is a universal right.\nThe Network is committed to strengthen solidarity and communication among its\nmembers and to challenge all forms of repression and harassment against human\nrights defenders<\/em><\/p>\n\r\n
\n\n\n\nProje \u00c7\u0131kt\u0131lar\u0131<\/h3>\r\n