Turkey Court Acquits Rights Defender Kavala in Gezi Park Trial

A Turkish court acquitted leading civil society figures, including rights defender Osman Kavala, on Tuesday in a highly controversial trial over the anti-government "Gezi Park" protests of 2013. 

The judge said there was "not enough concrete evidence" that Kavala and the other 15 defendants sought to overthrow the government. 

Kavala, who spent more than 800 days in pre-trial detention and faced a life sentence if convicted, became a symbol of what critics say is a crackdown on Turkey's civil society under President Recep Tayyip Erdogan. 

He received loud cheers as he left the packed courtroom in Silivri, on the outskirts of Istanbul. 

Prosecutors accused the group of orchestrating the mass protests of 2013 that began over plans to demolish Gezi Park -- one of the only green spaces in Istanbul's center -- but quickly spiraled into broader demonstrations against Erdogan, then prime minister.

Erdogan has called Kavala an agent of U.S. financier George Soros, whose efforts to promote democracy around the world have made him a target for several authoritarian leaders.

"This is a trial that should have never happened in the first place. This whole process has caused untold misery to those who were so wrongfully targeted," Emma Sinclair-Webb, of Human Rights Watch, told AFP at the courthouse.

Seven of the defendants, who remain on the run, were not formally acquitted.

- 'Conspiracy theory' -

Andrew Gardner, of Amnesty International, said the verdict was "obviously fantastic news" but warned against too much optimism.

There are "countless other trials of journalists, of opposition political activists, of human rights defenders. The justice system is completely devoid of independence and impartiality in Turkey," he told AFP. 

In December, the European Court of Human Rights heavily criticized the quality of the Gezi Park prosecution. 

It ruled that the 657-page indictment against Kavala lacked "facts, information or evidence" to raise even the suspicion that he helped organize the protests, let alone attempted to overthrow the government, and called for his immediate release. 

"The bill of indictment… set out a conspiracy theory, devoid of ascertainable facts," it said.

The Turkish court still put Kavala and the other defendants through two more hearings in December and January.

The Project on Middle East Democracy, a US-based advocacy group, said the case "made a mockery of due process and the rule of law" in a briefing note this week.

Defense lawyers were denied the chance to cross-examine the key government witness, identified as Murat Papuc, when he gave evidence in December after he claimed his life was in danger.

They also decried the inclusion of testimony from a police officer who was convicted of kicking a Gezi Park protester to death in July 2013, but who now claims he was a victim of the demonstrations. 

The defendants received support from Ekrem Imamoglu, the new high-profile mayor of Istanbul who took control of the city out of the hands of the ruling party last year. 

"The acquittal of all the defendants in the #GeziPark trial is a true source of joy, and restores trust in the Turkish judicial system. I salute all those who stand to defend our city's history, culture and nature," he tweeted.

Kavala's supporters say he was targeted because he worked to build bridges across Turkey's often fractious ethnic and social divides, in contrast to the combative rhetoric favored by Erdogan's ruling party. 

As chairman of the Anatolian Culture Foundation, which promotes human rights through art, Kavala even sought to build ties with neighboring Armenia, with which Turkey has no diplomatic relations.