December 24 is the next hearing in Turkey’s “Gezi” trial, in which 16 Turkish citizens—philanthropist Osman Kavala, along with civic activists, architects, actors, and a journalist—are preposterously accused of attempting a violent government overthrow.
The case fancifully charges the defendants with organizing Turkey’s 2013 “Gezi Park” protests in a Western-supported conspiracy to topple President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan. The unjust trial is part of Erdoğan’s ongoing campaign to repress peaceful civic activism and demonize his domestic opposition.
The state’s 657-page indictment presents a data dump of financial records, media coverage, photographs, and telephone transcripts. But it provides no evidence linking any of this to a plot to topple the government—let alone to criminal activity of any kind.
To highlight the hollowness of the case, a new POMED fact sheet, Turkey’s Absurd Gezi Trial, describes ten peaceful, mundane activities that the indictment lists as “proof” of a violent overthrow conspiracy.
Read the fact sheet here.
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Advancing Democracy Overseas – Not Isolationism – Protects American Interests, writes Tess McEnery and Patrick Quirk in the National Interest