Urging Turkish authorities to ensure that the Constitutional Court completes its examination of Kavala’s application without further delay, the Committee of Ministers decided to resume its examination of the case in March

The Committee of Ministers of the Council of Europe has adopted an Interim Resolution strongly urging Turkey to ensure the immediate release of jailed businessman and human rights defender Osman Kavala and to ensure that the Constitutional Court completes its examination of his complaint without further delay.

The Interim Resolution was adopted during the committee’s latest regular meeting to examine the implementation of judgments from the European Court of Human Rights (ECtHR), held from 1-3 December 2020 in Strasbourg.

Osman Kavala was arrested in October 2017 and jailed pending trial on 1 November 2017. He was subsequently charged with “attempting to overthrow the government” along with 15 other civil society figures and journalists in what came to be known as the Gezi Park Trial. The European Court announced its judgment on Kavala’s application against his detention on 10 December 2019, ruling that there was not sufficient evidence to justify his detention and that there was an ulterior motive behind his detention, namely to silence him and human rights defenders more broadly. The judgment became final in May 2020, after the European Court rejected a request from the Turkish authorities for the case to be referred to its Grand Chamber.

In the meantime, Kavala and his co-defendants in the Gezi Park Trial were acquitted and the court ruled for his release. Yet, he was rearrested on the basis of another investigation, this time in relation to the failed coup attempt of 15 July 2016. Kavala was subsequently jailed pending trial on the charge of “military and political espionage.”

On 4 May 2020, Kavala's lawyers filed an individual application with the Constitutional Court, complaining that there is insufficient evidence to justify his detention and that the authorities have failed to implement the ECtHR’s December 2019 judgment.

On 29 September 2020, the Constitutional Court postponed its consideration of Kavala’s case to allow for the examination of the charges in the new indictment against him.

During its two previous examinations of this case -- in September and October 2020 -- the Committee of Ministers considered that the information available raised a strong presumption that the applicant’s ongoing detention is a continuation of the violations found by the ECtHR.

At this week’s meeting, the committee noted that the information received in the meantime did not affect its conclusion.

Urging Turkish authorities to take all steps at their disposal to ensure that the Constitutional Court completes its examination of Kavala’s application without further delay and in a manner compatible with the spirit and conclusions of the European Court’s judgment, the Committee of Ministers decided to resume its examination of the case at the latest at its next meeting, which will take place in March 2021.