(5 Feb 2021) A Turkish court on Friday again rejected a request for businessman and human rights defender Osman Kavala's release from jail, despite a European Court of Human Rights ruling that called for his freedom.  
The court in Istanbul also ruled to merge two ongoing proceedings against Kavala and adjourned the trial until May 21, as confirmed by Sezgin Tanrikulu, human rights lawyer and MP for Turkey's main opposition party, Republican People's Party (CHP).
Speaking outside the courthouse, Kavala's wife, social scientist Ayse Bugra, said she could not "interpret these developments as part of the judicial process, as part of the legal process".
"I believe it's a period of torture that we've faced for three and a half years, that keeps getting worse," she said.
Kavala, 63, was on trial accused of espionage and attempting to overthrow the government in connection with a failed coup in 2016.
Last year, he was acquitted of terrorism-related charges for allegedly organizing and financing mass anti-government protests that erupted in 2013.
But a higher court later overturned the acquittal, paving the way for a re-trial.
He will now be tried for alleged connections to the failed coup and to the mass protests, and faces life in prison should he be convicted.
Kavala, who denies the accusations, has been imprisoned since he was detained in October 2017.
Human rights groups have denounced the proceedings against him as unjust and politically motivated, and have called for his release.
The case is being watched closely as a test of President Recep Tayyip Erdogan's sincerity concerning his pledge to carry out democratic, judicial and economic reforms.  
Kavala is known for his support of the arts and his funding of projects promoting cultural diversity and minority rights.  
Erdogan, however, has accused Kavala of being the "Turkish leg" of billionaire U.S. philanthropist George Soros, who the Turkish leader alleged has been behind insurrections in many countries.

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