Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan reiterated on Wednesday April 27 his accusations against Turkish patron Osman Kavala, sentenced to life on Monday, despite calls for his immediate release by many Western countries.
“
A verdict pronounced on an individual has greatly disturbed certain circles.
This man was Soros from Turkey
”, hammered the head of the Turkish state, in reference to the American billionaire of Hungarian origin George Soros, pet peeve of several leaders of authoritarian regimes in the world.
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Figure of Turkish civil society, Osman Kavala, 64, was sentenced to life on Monday for "
attempting to overthrow the government
" via the financing of anti-government demonstrations known as the "
Gezi movement
" in 2013. Become the opponent of the regime, he denounced before the judges a "
judicial assassination
" against his person and the influence of the Turkish president on his trial.
Unjustified imprisonment
The European Court of Human Rights (ECHR), condemned Ankara in 2019 for the unjustified imprisonment of the opponent, which aims "
to reduce Mr. Kavala to silence and with him all human rights defenders
and demanded his immediate release.
Faced with the refusal of the Turkish authorities to release him, the Council of Europe, on which the ECHR depends, initiated sanctions proceedings against Ankara in February.
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But Recep Erdogan assured Wednesday evening that the ECHR could not “
take a step without a verdict being pronounced
”.
“
There, the verdict is given.
You must comply.
Whether you do it or not, this verdict will be
carried out ,” he said.
His interpretation, however, does not correspond to the judgment of the ECHR on the Turkish patron who has repeatedly called for his immediate release, a request repeated on Monday by the President of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe (PACE), Tiny Kox, in a statement.
The United States, Germany, several European leaders and France have also denounced Kavala's conviction and called for his release.