25/08/2026 Questions juridiques et droits de l'homme
[Traduction en cours]
Sergiy Vlasenko (Ukraine, EPP/CD), PACE rapporteur for the implementation of judgments of the European Court of Human Rights, made the following statement today:
“Turkish human rights defender and philanthropist Osman Kavala has been detained in Türkiye since 18 October 2017. In December 2019, the European Court of Human Rights ruled that Mr Kavala should be released immediately. The Parliamentary Assembly has repeatedly called on Türkiye to comply with that judgment. Yet Mr Kavala has remained behind bars.
Today, the European Court of Human Rights has delivered a new judgment, addressing events that have occurred since its first ruling, including Mr Kavala’s final conviction. Finding multiple violations of the European Convention on Human Rights, the Court held that the continued detention, prosecution, and conviction of Mr Kavala had been carried out in order to silence him. Mr Kavala’s conviction resulted from a “flagrant denial of justice” and should be regarded as “null and void”. Furthermore, the irreducible life sentence imposed on him amounted to inhuman and degrading punishment.
The judgment requires Türkiye to address the systemic misuse of criminal proceedings against human rights defenders, political opponents, and journalists; remedy structural shortcomings affecting judicial independence and impartiality; grant priority at the domestic level to the execution of judgments of the European Court of Human Rights; and address the systemic problem of irreducible life sentences.
This new judgment should be a wake-up call, not only in regard to the case of Osman Kavala, but for the rule of law in Türkiye.
I urge the Turkish authorities to comply fully with the judgment, secure Osman Kavala’s immediate release, and take the necessary steps to implement the other aspects of this important ruling.”