The reasoned decree of the Constitutional Court, who denied the application of Osman Kavala regarding violations against his right to personal freedom and safety, was published in the Official Gazette. Kavala is in prison for years despite the European Court of Human Rights (ECtHR) decree for his release. The Constitutional Court decree had been issued with 8 votes against 7, based on reasons like Kavala being accused of espionage, that the crime of espionage requires confidentiality and that it is difficult to investigate. The Constitutional Court further issued that the period of Kavala’s arrest was reasonable and proportionate, even though he was in prison for 2 years and ten months at the time the decree was issued.
The decree of “lack of violation” was opposed by Constitutional Court Chief Judge Zühtü Arslan as well as Hasan Tahsin Gökcan, Engin Yıldırım, Hicabi Dursun, Celal Mümtaz Akıncı, Emin Kuz, Yusuf Şevki Hakyemez. Constitutional Court’s Chief Judge Zühtü Arslan stated in his reason for opposition that both the arrest warrant and the indictment makes evaluations based on assumptions, and that there was no evidence. Engin Yıldırım, on the other hand, quoted from Kafka’s The Trial and indicated that Kavala is inside a “Kafkaesque legal spiral.” In his oppositional statement, Yıldırım stated, “In Kafka’s The Trial, Josef K. had found himself instantly inside a legal spiral and labyrinth. Josef K. was living in a state of law and the law was strong in action. Kavala being released twice and arrested three times based on charges due to the same incident and without new important evidence that will incite strong criminal suspicion seems like a Kafkaesque legal spiral.” The other oppositional court judges have also claimed that the arrest warrants were speculative and disproportionate.
23.03.2021
bianet.org / t24.com.tr