Ankara-(Berberanews)-After a trial that has heightened tensions in Ankara’s relations with Western allies, a Turkish court has ordered philanthropist Osman Kavala to remain in prison, extending his detention of more than four years without charge.
The Turkish court decided on Monday to keep Kavala, one of Turkey’s most high-profile detainees, in detention and set the next hearing date for March 21.
When asked about the ruling, President Recep Tayyip Erdogan responded that Turkey will not respect the Council of Europe unless it respects Turkish courts.
The Council of Europe announced earlier this month that its committee had referred Kavala’s case to the European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) to determine whether Turkey had failed to comply with the court’s previous ruling, which stated that he should be released immediately, more than two years ago.
In October of 2017, Kavala was arrested. In 2020, he was acquitted of charges stemming from statewide protests in 2013.
A court ordered his arrest hours later on charges of attempting to overturn the constitutional order in connection with a 2016 coup attempt.
Kavala has been charged in three distinct cases relating to the 2013 protests and the 2016 coup attempt, along with 51 others.
That court eventually ordered his release on that charge but incarceration on an espionage charge in the same case, a move opponents argued was intended to get around the ECHR verdict.
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