ERBIL, Kurdistan Region - Europe’s top human rights court ruled that Turkey violated multiple fundamental rights of jailed philanthropist and civil society activist Osman Kavala, declaring his criminal conviction "null and void" and ordering his immediate release.
The Grand Chamber of the European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) held by 15 votes to two that Kavala’s ongoing imprisonment breached protections covering the right to a fair trial, personal liberty, freedom of expression, and freedom of assembly and association.
The Strasbourg-based judges found that legal actions against Kavala were pursued for the "ulterior purpose" of silencing him and constituted a "flagrant denial of justice".
The ruling closely mirrors a landmark 2020 ECHR judgment ordering Turkey to immediately release Selahattin Demirtas, the jailed former co-leader of the pro-Kurdish Peoples' Democratic Party (HDP), in which the court similarly invoked Article 18 to conclude his detention was aimed at stifling pluralism and political debate.
The court on Tuesday emphasized that Kavala’s case reflected systemic structural shortcomings within the Turkish judiciary that facilitate executive influence over sensitive legal proceedings and allow the broad targeting of political opponents, rights defenders, and journalists.
Kavala, held without interruption since October 2017, was sentenced to aggravated life imprisonment over allegations connected to the 2013 Gezi Park demonstrations and the July 2016 attempted coup.
Under the European Convention on Human Rights, the ruling establishes that Ankara must secure Kavala’s release "at the earliest possible date" and eliminate all legal consequences arising from the case.
The court also identified a violation of Article 3 (prohibition of inhuman or degrading treatment) stemming from the absence of any review mechanism for his aggravated life sentence.
The Tuesday ruling confirms earlier rulings delivered in 2019 and 2022 infringement proceedings, further heightening legal tension between Ankara and the Council of Europe.
