Amnesty slams Turkey court's 'appalling' upholding of Kavala life sentence

Amnesty International has decried an "appalling" decision by Turkey's top appeals court to uphold on Thursday a life sentence against civil society leader Osman Kavala.

Kavala, who turns 66 next week, was handed a life term in April for attempting to overthrow then-prime minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan's government during large-scale protests in 2013.

Opposition lawmaker Enis Berberoglu said he had visited Kavala, who has been jailed since 2017, on Friday.

Berberoglu said the philanthropist had told him the ruling upholding his life sentence was "a result of an understanding that does not value law or human life".

Amnesty International slammed the ruling - which also upheld 18-year sentences for four other people – as a "devastating politically motivated blow for human rights".

"Whilst it may effectively mark the end of the appeals process for Osman Kavala, it marks the beginning of a new phase of our campaign to demand his release, and that of Çiğdem Mater, Can Atalay, Mine Özerden, [and] Tayfun Kahraman," said Ruth Tanner, Amnesty's campaigns director for Europe.

"The appeal court's decision defies all logic given that the prosecuting authorities have repeatedly failed to provide any evidence to substantiate the baseless charges laid against them," Tanner added.

Three other defendants' convictions were overturned. The indictment concerning them will go back to the lower court to determine whether a retrial should be held.

Agencies contributed to this report.