The Turkish patron Osman Kavala, detained for four and a half years, was sentenced on Monday April 25 in Istanbul to life imprisonment after the pleadings of the defense, which had demanded his acquittal for lack of evidence and denounced the relentlessness of power.

Osman Kavala, accused of having tried to overthrow the government of President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, will not be able to benefit from any remission of sentence, specified the judges whose verdict, announced after less than an hour of deliberation, was welcomed by boos in the courtroom.

He was only acquitted of the espionage charge.

>> To (re) see: "Trial of Osman Kavala: his wife "no longer expects anything" from Turkish justice"

In advance, at the close of the proceedings, Osman Kavala - who has always denied the charges against him - had denounced a "judicial assassination" against his person: "The conspiracy theories, put forward for political and ideological reasons, have prevented a impartial analysis of the events and (have) disconnected them from reality", he had launched before the judges withdrew.

Figure of Turkish civil society, Osman Kavala, 64, was accused of having sought to overthrow the government of Recep Tayyip Erdogan through the financing of anti-government demonstrations, known as the "Gezi movement", in 2013 and during the coup. missed July 2016.

It was from the high security prison of Silivri, on the outskirts of Istanbul, by videoconference and dressed as usual in an impeccable white shirt, that he followed the pleadings on Monday and heard the statement of the verdict, epilogue of a judicial soap opera returned from month to month.

The three lawyers for the businessman, publisher and philanthropist, argued in particular that the judges never asked him "where he was" during the facts of which he was accused.

"There was no trial: you did not ask a single question to Osman Kavala", launched Me Tolga Aytöre.

"Not even: 'Have you been to Gezi Park?'" epicenter of the 2013 protests that swept across the country.

Eighteen years in prison for seven co-defendants

Likewise, the last defender to speak, Ilkan Koyuncu, recalled that "Kavala is accused of having played a role in the coup attempt in 2016, but no one asked him where he was the night of the coup. State".

During the pleadings, the representative of the Pen Club, association for the defense of freedom of expression, Caroline Stockford, asked the judges to "drop their phones" to listen to the defense, suggesting that they received their orders on screen.

Facing the court on Friday, Osman Kavala denounced President Erdogan's influence on his trial.

His seven co-defendants – who appeared free – were sentenced to eighteen years in prison, accused of having supported him.

>> To read also: "In Turkey, the "red billionaire" Osman Kavala remains behind bars"

Human rights activists had hoped for a release that would send a positive signal as Turkey tries to facilitate talks between Ukraine and Russia.

Especially since President Erdogan was simultaneously receiving the UN Secretary General, Antonio Guterres, in Ankara.

As at every audience, a dozen Western diplomats were present to show their support for the man who has become the pet peeve of the Erdogan regime.

Nicknamed the "red billionaire" by his detractors, Osman Kavala, born in Paris, was arrested in October 2017.

Acknowledgment invalidated

Acquitted in February 2020 on charges related to the 2013 protests, the publisher was arrested a few hours later – even before being able to return home – then sent back to prison, this time accused of having sought to “overthrow the government”. during the failed putsch of July 2016, as well as espionage.

His acquittal was then invalidated by the Turkish courts, but the regular renewal of his detention made him the hero of the opposition to President Erdogan.

"Having spent four and a half years of my life in prison can never be compensated. The only thing that can console me will be to have contributed to revealing the serious errors of Turkish justice," he warned on Friday.

The Kavala affair triggered a diplomatic crisis in the fall, Ankara threatening to expel a dozen Western ambassadors, including that of the United States, who had called for his release.

With AFP

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