Should Turkish justice minister's comments fuel hope for release of philanthropist Osman Kavala?

Turkish Justice Minister Abdulhamit Gul spoke out against the widespread practice of arbitrary detentions Friday, fueling speculation that Turkish philanthropist and civic activist Osman Kavala, who has been in jail for more than three years on a slew of outlandish charges, may be finally freed.

Addressing a symposium on criminal law in Ankara, Gul said that defendants should stand trial without being detained and that this was the norm. “The evidence has been gathered, there is no risk of flight, the suspect’s whereabouts have been established, years have gone past. One cannot say ‘Let's arrest [them].’ It’s wrong,” Gul said.

His comments coincided with Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan's announcement at a different venue that Turkey was entering “a new period of reforms in the economy and the judiciary in our country.”

Conjecture over Kavala’s possible release grew when a letter marked “urgent” from the Council of Judges and Prosecutors to the Istanbul court dealing with his case was leaked to the media Friday. It asked for records of all of the rulings cited by the Strasbourg-based European Court of Human Rights as having violated Kavala’s rights.