Turkey: Court Acquits 9 in Gezi Case, Osman Kavala to Be Freed

The Istanbul 30th Heavy Penal Court on 18 February acquitted 9 of the 16 suspects in the case into the Gezi Park protests of 2013. Businessman, philanthropist and human rights activist Osman Kavala is set to be freed. The suspects were being tried in the case into the Gezi Park protests, which took place in Istanbul’s Taksim following harsh government response to a group of protesters trying to prevent the cutting down of trees for a large development project planned by the government. Eight protesters and a police officer was killed during the demonstrations. Kavala, who was accused of being one of the “managers and organizers” of the protests, was arrested in November 2017 on suspicion of attempting to overthrow the government and the constitutional order through force and violence. Read more here.

Source: duvaR