TFINAL HE hearing in the trial of environmental activists was rushed. Throughout the case, the court did not consider the evidence. So, on February 18, when the judge told the accused that they had been acquitted, a dumbfounded courtroom burst to applause. The relief was short-lived. Officials of the ruling party tweeted their disapproval and after dark Osman Kavala, the group’s best known, was arrested again.
The philanthropist, who spent his fortune to save historic monuments and promote dialogue with the Armenians and the Kurds, is now accused of having helped in an attempted military coup in 2016. The new investigation allows the government to ignore the European Court of Human Rights (ECHR), who in December ordered Mr. Kavala’s release and said his detention was aimed at muzzleing civil society.
In the protest, the prosecution wanted Mr. Kavala to be sentenced to life in prison for allegedly leading anti-government protests sparked by plans to demolish Istanbul’s Gezi Park in 2013. The proof? He bought pastries and gas masks for the protesters. Now he could face another life sentence. Prosecutors have yet to explain what the leftist left was doing in a military uprising linked to an Islamist sect. But Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan used the coup attempt to justify thousands of questionable arrests. The Turkish judicial system is ranked 109th out of 126 countries according to the World Justice Project rule of law index.
The acquittal and re-arrest of Mr. Kavala suggest a government power struggle. But such decisions “would never be made without the consent of President Erdogan,” says leftist Garo Paylan. MP. The president says that Mr. Kavala takes orders from the “famous Hungarian Jew”, referring to his work with the Open Society Foundations founded by George Soros.
Gezi Park is still standing, a patch of grass and dilapidated trees. But Turkish civil society has faded, as has the appetite for street protests. Seven years ago, the construction of a giant mosque near the park, one of Erdogan’s favorite projects, was a source of contention. Since then, the mosque has risen without moaning. Before his acquittal, Yigit Aksakoglu, one of Mr. Kavala’s co-defendants, described how the surreal trial had changed their lives. “I feel like I was sucked into a movie,” he said. “Shit the park, let them build whatever they want to build.”
This article appeared in the Europe section of the print edition under the title “Guilty of Compassion”