Statement by Osman Kavala

16 October 2026

In its judgment of 25 August, the European Court of Human Rights characterised the judicial measures to which I had been subjected as a denial of justice. The principal reason for this finding was the continued deprivation of my liberty through measures that undermined the very essence of the law, despite the known absence of any finding that I had committed a criminal offence. Rather than putting an end to a grave human rights violation, the 13th Assize Court’s refusal to reopen the proceedings, based on an arbitrary interpretation of the right of individual application to the European Court of Human Rights and the relevant provisions of the Code of Criminal Procedure, also undermines the reputation of the judiciary.

Osman Kavala, 16 October 2026