Statement by Osman Kavala

September 1, 2022

Henri Barkey’s statement indicating that the dinner he had at the Karaköy restaurant on July 18, 2016, was not with me but with Aslı Aydıntaşbaş, has lifted the lid on the deliberate distortion repeated throughout the indictment against myself. We filed a second complaint with the Council of Judges and Prosecutors against the person who was in charge with drafting the indictment. Our first complaint was about the use of false statements in the same indictment.

The abovementioned indictment, which was filed with an intention to extend my pre-trial detention at any expense following the acquittal judgment delivered in the Gezi proceedings, includes several factual distortions. Above all, this abuse of law poses a significant danger for all and any citizen of our country.

The prosecution authority has fabricated a charge of espionage, disregarding the legal definitions of this offence, in order to criminalize my otherwise entirely lawful activities. During the hearings, I pointed out that this course of action resembled with the Nazi-era practices in many aspects. Based on my consideration that it will be of no avail regarding these judicial proceedings, which were conducted through a lens of enemy criminal law, I have paid no attention neither to Henri Barkey for not previously speaking about the dinner at the restaurant nor to Aslı Aydıntaşbaş for not previously making any statements on this matter.

The fact that the charge of espionage was no longer needed following the politically desired sentences given by the 13th Assize Court in the Gezi trial and thus was resulted in acquittal, reveals that those charges were nothing more than a fabrication. In its latest judgment, the European Court of Human Rights (ECtHR) concluded that this charge, which was fabricated with an intention to extend my detention, was based on evidence that had already been examined by the Court with a conclusion that there were no reasonable grounds to justify the suspicion of the mentioned offence. With the latest ECtHR judgment, it is demonstrated that the course of action followed by the prosecution amounts to a circumvention of the law and the claim of the Turkish Government alleging that “the ECtHR judgment has already been executed” is utterly void.

We consider it a primary concern for the judiciary system of our country to prevent such indictments that supply basis for unlawful criminal proceedings. It is our sincere hope that our complaints filed with the Council of Judges and Prosecutors shall serve this purpose.

Osman Kavala