05:19France: German FM condemns Turkey’s refusal to heed European Court’s calls to release Osman Kavala
German Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock reiterated calls for Ankara to release Turkish activist Osman Kavala, as she addressed the winter session of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe (PACE) on Tuesday.
"Let me say loud and clear, all member states have to respect the European Convention on Human Rights and implement the Court of Human Rights judgement based on it. And it hurts me deeply that for years the Turkish authorities have been ignoring the court's demands to release Osman Kavala, whose detention the court considers to be politically motivated,” she said.
Baerbock also demanded that Turkish authorities free not only Kavala, but all prisoners the 'court has also ruled to be unlawfully detained.
Kavala was sentenced to life in prison in April 2022 for ‘attempting to overthrow the government’ during protests at Gezi Park, Istanbul, in 2013.
His seven co-defendants, Mucella Yapici, Tayfun Kahraman, Can Atalay, Mine Ozerden, Cigdem Mater, Hakan Altınay and Yigit Ekmekci, were also convicted of assisting him and each was sentenced to 18 years.
The Turkish appeals court upheld their sentences in December 2022.
The Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe (PACE) takes place in Strasbourg from January 23 to January 27.
The assembly, which has been meeting since 1949, is the 46-member parliamentary body of the Council of Europe.
05:19Mandatory credit: PACE
German Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock reiterated calls for Ankara to release Turkish activist Osman Kavala, as she addressed the winter session of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe (PACE) on Tuesday.
"Let me say loud and clear, all member states have to respect the European Convention on Human Rights and implement the Court of Human Rights judgement based on it. And it hurts me deeply that for years the Turkish authorities have been ignoring the court's demands to release Osman Kavala, whose detention the court considers to be politically motivated,” she said.
Baerbock also demanded that Turkish authorities free not only Kavala, but all prisoners the 'court has also ruled to be unlawfully detained.
Kavala was sentenced to life in prison in April 2022 for ‘attempting to overthrow the government’ during protests at Gezi Park, Istanbul, in 2013.
His seven co-defendants, Mucella Yapici, Tayfun Kahraman, Can Atalay, Mine Ozerden, Cigdem Mater, Hakan Altınay and Yigit Ekmekci, were also convicted of assisting him and each was sentenced to 18 years.
The Turkish appeals court upheld their sentences in December 2022.
The Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe (PACE) takes place in Strasbourg from January 23 to January 27.
The assembly, which has been meeting since 1949, is the 46-member parliamentary body of the Council of Europe.