Top EU court says Kavala case exposes erosion of judicial independence in Turkey
Europe's top human rights court has renewed its call for Turkey to immediately release jailed philanthropist Osman Kavala, saying his imprisonment reflects a broader “systemic problem” over independence and impartiality of the judiciary.
ANKARA — The European Court of Human Rights chided Turkey on Tuesday for its refusal to release Turkish businessman and philanthropist Osman Kavala, saying his case exposed a broader “systemic problem” in the country’s judicial independence.
Kavala, 68, has been imprisoned since 2017 and is serving a sentence of life without parole for allegedly attempting to overthrow the government through his involvement in anti-government protests in 2013.
He denies the charges, which the European Union, the US State Department and international rights groups have slammed as politically motivated and aimed at silencing Kavala, a critic of Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan.
Background: The ECHR ruled in 2019 that Turkey had violated Kavala’s right to liberty and other fundamental rights by keeping him behind bars for the ulterior purpose of silencing him and ordered Ankara to secure his immediate release. Europe’s top human rights court’s rulings are binding on Turkey, which is a signatory to the European Convention on Human Rights.
After Ankara refused to release Kavala, the Council of Europe, which oversees implementation of ECHR judgments, launched rare infringement proceedings against Turkey in 2022.
Turkey, a Council of Europe member since 1949, faces possible sanctions, including suspension of voting rights or ultimately its membership if it continues to refuse to implement binding ECHR judgments.
Why it matters: In a press release on Tuesday, the court framed Kavala’s ongoing imprisonment as a “systemic problem” of judicial independence in Turkey.
Kavala's imprisonment is "part of a wider context, marked by the detention and prosecution of political opponents, human rights defenders and journalists on the basis of criminal offenses, the scope of which was interpreted extensively,” the court said.
“The violations found in the present case also revealed structural shortcomings which affected the guarantees of independence and impartiality of the judiciary,” it added.
Know more: While the Turkish government maintains that its judiciary is independent, the European Union, international rights groups and critics of the government say judicial independence in the country has sharply eroded under Erdogan’s executive presidency, to which Turkey switched in 2018.
While Kavala’s imprisonment has become emblematic of those concerns, the March 2025 jailing of Istanbul Mayor Ekrem Imamoglu, a key Erdogan rival, along with more than 200 opposition officials is also widely seen as an example of the erosion of judicial impartiality in the country. Government critics and leading international rights groups have slammed the crackdown on Turkey’s opposition as politically motivated and intended to weaken Erdogan’s political rivals ahead of the next presidential election.
Turkey’s next presidential and parliamentary elections are currently scheduled for May 2028, though they could be held earlier.
