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A man holds up a picture of Kavala at a vigil in Berlin
Photo: Christophe Gateau / dpa
The cultural promoter Osman Kavala has to remain in prison without a court judgment - despite great international pressure on Turkey.
Even after more than four years of pre-trial detention, an Istanbul court ruled that his detention must be continued.
This makes it more likely that Turkey will be excluded from the Council of Europe.
The next hearing will take place on January 17th.
Kavala was originally arrested on charges of funding and organizing the Gezi protests against President Erdoğan's government in Istanbul in 2013.
In February last year, a court acquitted him of the charge.
He was released from prison after two and a half years in prison, but arrested again a few hours later - this time in connection with the attempted coup against Erdoğan in 2016 and allegations of espionage.
In January this year, an appeals court overturned the first acquittal.
If convicted of espionage charges, Kavala faces life imprisonment.
Kavala himself, who strictly rejects the allegations, did not take part in the hearing as a protest.
Kavala's lawyers spoke of a "political trial" against their client.
The incident led to a diplomatic scandal between Turkey and the embassies of ten Western countries in October: the Council of Europe warned last month that steps should be taken against Ankara if Kavala was not released before the organization's next meeting on November 30th.
The European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) ordered Kavala's release in December 2019.
The Council of Europe has 47 countries - including Turkey.
It sees itself as Europe's leading human rights organization.
Turkey is now threatened with the initiation of infringement proceedings.
mrc / dpa