Following a court decision to keep civil society leader Osman Kavala behind bars on baseless charges of ‘attempting to overthrow the government’, Amnesty International’s Turkey Campaigner, Milena Buyum said:

“The court’s decision to ignore the call of the European Court of Human Rights to release Osman Kavala immediately shows just how far Turkey is prepared to go to silence independent civil society.

“Osman Kavala has been languishing in prison for 819 days facing spurious accusations with no evidence that he was involved in any criminal activity, let alone conspiring to overthrow the government.”

“He should not have spent a single minute behind bars let alone more than two years in pre-trial detention and he should be released immediately.”