A Turkish court ruled on Monday that philanthropist Osman Kavala should stay in prison for at least another month as defendants prepare their final statements in a trial which has caused tensions between Ankara and its Western allies.
Opposition and rights activists have said the trial is politically motivated and part of a crackdown on dissent under President Tayyip Erdogan. The government rejects this and says Turkey's courts are independent.
The court had been widely expected to reach a verdict on Monday, but defence lawyers requested more time to respond to the prosecutor's final opinion on the case and the judge set a date of April 22 for what was likely to be the final hearing.
Kavala, a businessman and contributor to numerous civil society groups, was initially detained more than four years ago on Oct. 18, 2017.
He is on trial with 15 others on charges related to nationwide Gezi protests in 2013. Some defendants were acquitted twice in the past of the charges related to the protests.
Kavala and a 17th defendant are accused of involvement in a coup attempt in 2016. All defendants deny the charges.
Prosecutor Edip Sahiner has requested that Kavala and Mucella Yapici be convicted for attempting to overthrow the government in the protests, which carries a prison sentence up to life without parole.
He also requested that six others be convicted of aiding Kavala and Yapici. Some of the other defendants are abroad and have not been attending the hearings.
The Council of Europe last month referred Kavala's case to the European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) to determine whether Turkey has failed to meet its obligation to implement a previous ECHR judgment, more than two years ago, that he should be released immediately.
COUP ATTEMPT
Kavala was acquitted in 2020 of charges related to nationwide protests in 2013, but hours later another court ordered his arrest based on a charge of attempting to overthrow the constitutional order related to a 2016 coup attempt.
That court later ruled to release him on that charge but ordered his detention on an espionage charge in the same case, a move critics said was aimed at circumventing the ECHR ruling.
Kavala joined the hearing via video link on Monday after refusing to attend several hearings.
"The absence of the mention of the espionage charge in the prosecutor's final opinion has made it obvious that my detention on the charge of espionage is completely baseless," he told the court, requesting his release.
More than a hundred people gathered outside the courthouse in support of the defendants, carrying a banner reading "Gezi is hope. Hope cannot be put on trial".
The courtroom was packed with Western diplomats, representatives of rights groups, opposition party members and defendants' families and supporters.
Erdogan has said Turkey will not respect the Council of Europe if it did not respect Turkish courts.
Last October, Erdogan threatened to expel the ambassadors of 10 countries, including the United States, Germany and France, after they echoed the ECHR ruling.
(Reporting by Ali Kucukgocmen, Writing by Daren Butler, Editing by Ece Toksabay, Andrew Heavens and Ed Osmond)
