Turkish court upholds Osman Kavala's life sentence

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A Turkish appellate court confirmed the conviction of a critic of President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, whose imprisonment has heightened tensions in Ankara's relations with the West.

Osman Kavala, a Paris-born activist and philanthropist, was sentenced in April to life in prison without the chance of parole on the allegation of attempting to destabilize the government by supporting street protests in 2013.

Seven others were sentenced to 18 years in prison for supporting the overthrow of then-Prime Minister Erdogan's government during the so-called Gezi Park demonstrations in Istanbul.

The Anadolu official news agency stated the appellate court found that the April verdict "complied with the law." The defense can still file an appeal with Turkey's Supreme Court.

Since his sudden arrest in October 2017, Kavala's years-long trial has been gnawing at Turkey's strategic but volatile ties with its main Western partners.

Kavala was well known at the time as a soft-spoken businessman who used a portion of his fortune to support culture and projects aimed at reconciling Turkey and Armenia.

Erdogan, on the other hand, depicted him as a Marxist agent of Hungarian-born US billionaire George Soros, who was using foreign money to undermine the government.

Kavala was initially charged with supporting the wave of 2013 protests, while another court then charged him with involvement in a failed coup attempt against Erdogan in 2016, in which over 250 people were killed in Istanbul and Ankara.

Kavala was charged with both sets of allegations. The court eventually convicted him on the identical charges he had been cleared of in 2020.

Germany urged his immediate release, while the US expressed "grave concern" about the verdict.

"His unjust conviction is inconsistent with respect for human rights and the rule of law. We again call on Turkey to release Osman Kavala," said Vedant Patel, a spokesperson for the US State Department as quoted by AFP.

"The people of Turkey deserve to exercise their human rights and fundamental freedoms without fear of retribution," Patel added.