Turkey sentenced a prominent businessman to life in prison for attempting to topple the government in a case seen by its Western allies as a test of judicial independence.
A criminal court in Istanbul convicted businessman and philanthropist Osman Kavala on charges of conspiring to overthrow President Recep Tayyip Erdogan in a failed 2016 coup, as well as for allegedly financing and organizing the nationwide anti-government protests that started at the Gezi Park in Istanbul in 2013. Kavala, who has been in jail for more than four years, was acquitted on charges of espionage.
The court also sentenced seven other activists to as long as 18 years in prison on charges of aiding to to overthrow the government, ordering their immediate arrest.
The sentences come at a time when Erdogan’s government is winning favor with the U.S. and other NATO allies for supplying armed drones to Ukraine that have been effective against invading Russian forces. It was unclear whether that may help temper criticism from Western allies who have called on Turkey to release Kavala. Relations with many of those partners came to the brink of collapse in October when Erdogan threatened envoys from 10 countries, including the U.S. and Germany, with expulsion after they demanded Kavala’s release.
“This verdict deals a devastating blow not only to Osman Kavala, his co-defendants and their families, but to everyone who believes in justice and human rights activism in Turkey and beyond,” Nils Muiznieks, Amnesty International’s Europe Director, said in a statement. “This unjust verdict shows that the Gezi trial was only an attempt to silence independent voices.”
The court said it would press on with the trial of Henri Barkey, a Turkish scholar based in the U.S., and eight other fugitives, including activist Mehmet Ali Alabora and journalist Can Dundar, in a separate case.
The lira was little changed after the court verdict and was trading at 14.7791 per dollar at 7:23 p.m. in Istanbul. The currency has depreciated 10% this year, the second-worst performer in emerging market currencies after the Argentine peso.
Kavala, who denies all charges, was convicted of aiding plotters in the attempted coup, which Turkey says was masterminded by U.S.-based cleric Fethullah Gulen. He was previously acquitted of charges related to the Gezi protests, but a higher court overturned the decision, paving the way for further judicial proceedings.
Kavala was on the board of the Turkish chapter of the Open Society Foundation funded by financier George Soros until the Turkish government shut it down in 2018.
