Turkey must release philanthropist Kavala now: rights body

STRASBOURG, France  — The Council of Europe demanded Friday that Turkey immediately release philanthropist and businessman Osman Kavala after almost three years in prison, to comply with a ruling by Europe's top rights court that his detention lacks legal basis.

The European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) found in December that the jailing of Kavala, who has been personally targeted by President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, aimed to "silence" him.

Now Turkey must "ensure the immediate release" of Kavala, said the Committee of Ministers of the 47-nation pan-European council, a rights body not linked to the European Union (EU).

"Given the urgency of the situation", the committee said it would again examine Turkey's implementation of the ECHR ruling at its next meeting this month.

"The Turkish authorities have until November 2020 to submit an action plan setting out the general measures to be taken to prevent similar violations of the human rights convention occurring in the future," it added.

The ECHR judgement became final on May 11, when the court rejected a request from Ankara for the case to be referred to its Grand Chamber.

The statement comes as concerns grow over Turkey's failure to implement rulings by the ECHR, which Ankara is bound by as a member of the Council of Europe.

In a meeting with Erdogan on Thursday, ECHR president Robert Spano urged Turkey to respect the rule of law and comply with court rulings involving political opponents and jailed figures.

A Turkish court ordered the release of Kavala in February, after acquitting him on charges linked to the 2013 protests against Erdogan sparked by a plan to redevelop Istanbul's Gezi Park.

But before he could leave jail, Kavala was placed under arrest again hours later on separate charges of attempting to overthrow the constitutional order in the failed 2016 coup against Erdogan.

Erdogan has personally attacked Kavala, calling him the agent in Turkey of US financier George Soros.

Kavala, who was detained in October 2017, in July marked spending over 1,000 days in jail. 

A respected figure in intellectual circles, Kavala is chairman of the Anatolian Culture Foundation, which seeks to bridge ethnic and regional divides, in particular with Armenia, which is at loggerheads with Turkey over the World War I massacres of Armenians under the Ottoman Empire.