NEW YORK—The Open Society Foundations are profoundly disappointed with the decision of a Turkish appeals court to uphold the manifestly unjust prison sentences handed out last year to Osman Kavala—businessman and philanthropist—and four other civil society figures on bogus charges linked to the 2013 Gezi Park protests.
The court upheld a life sentence given to Kavala, as well as 18-year sentences for Çiğdem Mater, Can Atalay, Mine Özerden, and Tayfun Kahraman. At the same time the appeals court overturned the conviction of Mücella Yapıcı, Hakan Altınay, and Yiğit Ali Ekmekçi—although the indictment against them will be returned to a lower court for a possible retrial.
Mark Malloch-Brown, president of the Open Society Foundations, said:
“We welcome the overturning of three of these manifestly unfounded convictions—which were the result of a cruel judicial mockery that was condemned by the European Court of Human Rights back in 2019.”
“The continued detention of Osman Kavala and the four other defendants remains a travesty of the rule of law, in a vindictive process aimed at silencing independent Turkish civil society voices. The resulting stain on Turkey’s international reputation will only be removed when they are released.”
Osman Kavala turns 66 this year; he has been arbitrarily detained now for more than five years. Çiğdem Mater is a film producer and journalist; Can Atalay, a human rights lawyer; Mine Özerden, a producer; and Tayfun Kahraman, an Istanbul-based urban planner.
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