ISTANBUL, April 22 (Reuters) – Turkish philanthropist Osman Kavala and seven other defendants on Friday presented their final defense statements in a long-running case over nationwide protests in 2013 that strained Ankara’s ties with its Western allies.

Kavala, 64, has been in prison for 4.5 years without conviction and denies charges he and 15 others face over the Gezi protests, which started with small protests in an Istanbul park and escalated snowfall in nationwide anti-government unrest, in which eight protesters were killed.

The European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) and activists say the case is politically motivated and symbolic of a crackdown on dissent under President Tayyip Erdogan’s rule, the government says.

The court was previously expected to deliver a verdict on Friday, but it was unclear whether that would happen or if the hearing would be postponed until Monday, as statements by defense attorneys are yet to be made.

Prosecutor Edip Sahiner said Kavala and architect Mucella Yapici should be found guilty of attempting to overthrow the government through violence, which would carry a sentence of up to life in prison without the possibility of parole.

Addressing the court via video link from prison, Kavala said: “It is obvious that those who issued the indictment did not feel constrained by the laws, considering that they will receive political support because they intended to prolong my detention”.

The courtroom was packed with some 200 people, including members of the opposition, rights groups and Western diplomats.

Prosecutor Sahiner said six other people should be convicted for helping Kavala and Yapici, while asking that the case against the other eight defendants be severed.

Kavala and another defendant, whose case the prosecutor says should also be separated, are also accused of participating in a 2016 coup attempt, which the ECHR also says lacks evidence.

The ECHR called for Kavala’s release in late 2019 and ruled that his detention served to silence a philanthropist whose civil society projects aimed to foster social change.

But Turkish courts have not freed Kavala, and Ankara faces suspension from the Council of Europe’s rights watchdog, after an ‘infringement procedure’ was launched over his retention in prison.

The embassies of Turkey’s Western allies, including the United States and Germany, echoed calls for Kavala’s release last year, prompting threats from Erdogan to expel their ambassadors.

Erdogan equates Gezi protesters with Kurdish militants and those accused of orchestrating a failed coup in 2016 and has personally targeted Kavala, saying Western allies will not release “bandits, murderers and terrorists” into the country. their countries.

Kavala was acquitted in 2020 of charges related to the Gezi protests. Hours later, another court ordered his arrest for attempting to overthrow the constitutional order linked to the attempted coup.

That court later decided to free him on that charge, but ordered his detention on charges of espionage in the same case, a move which critics say was intended to circumvent the ECHR ruling.

Kavala’s acquittal along with eight others in the Gezi trial was overturned last year and the case was combined with the other charges against him.

Reporting by Ali Kucukgocmen and Daren Butler Editing by Alison Williams and Gareth Jones

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