Statement by Osman Kavala upon completion of his 8th year in prison

At the end of last month, I completed my eighth year in prison. In 2020, the first Gezi trial concluded with an acquittal. In that acquittal decision, just as in the European Court of Human Rights judgment of 2019, it was explained in detail that there were no findings linking me to any criminal activity. Yet, the acquittal decision was overturned, and two years later I was sentenced to aggravated life imprisonment, and other civil society figures were sentenced to eighteen years in prison, despite the lack of any new evidence, with the judges stating that they reached their verdict based on their “conscientious conviction.” During the two years between the acquittal in the first Gezi trial and the subsequent reversal and convictions, my detention was maintained on the basis of an espionage charge. Without specifying where and how I obtained the state secrets that constitute the subject of this charge under our criminal law, and without providing any clarification about what those secrets supposedly were, a charge was fabricated entirely outside the legal definition. When the convictions were delivered in the Gezi case, this defamatory accusation was dropped.

As I enter my ninth year in prison, I continue to hold the belief that an approach grounded in the fundamental principles of the rule of law, and one that respects human rights and human dignity, will ultimately prevail in our country.

Osman Kavala

November 3, 2025