Council of Europe to launch action against Turkey over jailed activist

The Council of Europe said Friday that it will launch disciplinary action against Turkey over its refusal to release from prison the prominent activist and philanthropist Osman Kavala, triggering a procedure used only once before in the organisation's history.

The pan-European rights body's committee of ministers agreed the move over the repeated refusal by Turkey to comply with a 2019 ruling to release Kavala by the European Court of Human Rights, it said in a statement.

Kavala has been in jail without a conviction since 2017, and faces a string of alternating charges linked to 2013 anti-government protests and a failed military coup in 2016.

The activist has become a symbol of the sweeping crackdown Erdogan unleashed after surviving the coup attempt.

Back in October 23, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan asked his foreign minister to expel the ambassadors of 10 countries including Germany and the United States who appealed Kavala’s release.

The envoys issued a highly unusual joint statement on October 18 saying the continued detention of Parisian-born philanthropist and activist Osman Kavala "cast a shadow" over Turkey.

The US, Germany, Canada, Denmark, Finland, France, the Netherlands, New Zealand, Norway and Sweden called for a "just and speedy resolution to (Kavala's) case".

Speaking to AFP from his jail cell in October, Kavala said he felt like a tool in Erdogan's attempts to blame a foreign plot for domestic opposition to his nearly two-decade rule.