Turkey's judicial board to probe judges who acquitted Kavala

Duvar English

Turkey's Board of Judges and Prosecutors (HSK) will investigate three judges who acquitted renowned businessman, human rights activist and philanthropist Osman Kavala on Feb. 19.

Following the decision of the First Chamber of the HSK, an inspector will be assigned to investigate judges Galip Mehmet Perk, Ahmet Tarık Çiftçioğlu and Talip Ergen.

The move comes a day after the Istanbul 30th Heavy Penal Court acquitted Kavala and eight others in the case into the Gezi Park protests, which took place in Istanbul’s Taksim following harsh government response to a group of protesters trying to prevent the cutting down of trees for a large development project planned by the government.

Kavala, who was accused of being one of the “managers and organizers” of the protests, was arrested in November 2017 on suspicion of attempting to overthrow the government and the constitutional order through force and violence.

While the acquittal decision was met with surprise and happiness, the joy was short lived since Kavala was detained hours later over a separate case into the July 15, 2016 failed coup attempt, widely believed to have been masterminded by the U.S.-based Islamic preacher Fethullah Gülen.

The Gülen movement, which was an ally of the AKP and Erdoğan until 2013, is officially called the Fethullahist Terrorist Organization (FETÖ).

Also on Feb. 19, President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan said the court "attempted" to acquit Kavala "with a maneuver."

“This is not an innocent uprising incident. There are people behind the scenes, such as Soros, who stir up countries via uprisings. Their Turkey leg was in jail. They tried to acquit him with a maneuver yesterday,” Erdoğan told members of his ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP) on Feb. 19.

He also said that the detention order for Kavala must be respected.