Osman Kavala: Compliance with ECtHR rulings is an obligation under the rule of law

Businessperson, philanthropist and prominent civil society member Osman Kavala released a written statement on the recent European Court of Human Rights (ECtHR) ruling calling for his release as soon as possible. Kavala’s nine-year imprisonment initially over his alleged involvement in the 2013 Gezi Park protests has become a major point of concern among human rights activists, who say his detention is politically motivated. 

Despite being acquitted of Gezi Park charges in Feb. 2020, Kavala remained in prison, as a new charge of “espionage” was levied from the same initial investigation.  

In his statement, Kavala said that previous ECtHR rulings establish that there is no evidence of him committing any crimes. He also said that fundamental human rights and the rule of law require not restricting the rights of individuals without solid evidence that a crime was actually committed. 

Kavala’s full statement:

The Grand Chamber judgment that the ECtHR delivered regarding me covers the examination of the conviction process. In this decision as well, just as in the two ECtHR decisions prior to this, it was emphasized that the right to live freely cannot be restricted without convincing concrete evidence showing that a crime has been committed. In the acquittal decision rendered in 2020 within the scope of the first Gezi trial, the fact that there was no evidence of me having committed a crime was also established. 

With its latest judgment, the ECtHR effectively stated that the understanding that courts can issue conviction decisions based on general evaluations regarding events and reasoning involving intent-reading about the purpose of activities is unacceptable. 

That the right of people who do not engage in an act deemed a crime by law to live freely cannot be restricted is a fundamental human rights principle. The protection of this right and ensuring absolute adherence to this principle in the public sphere is also the obligation of the rule of law toward citizens. 

Compliance with ECtHR judgments is primarily concerned with the fulfillment of this obligation, and is necessary for it.

(HA/İK)