Turkish Court Acquits Civil Society Nine Over Gezi Park Protests

Turkish philanthropist and civil society leader Osman Kavala and eight co-defendants were acquitted by an Istanbul court on Tuesday on charges of trying to overthrow the government during a wave of protests in 2013 in defence of a park that city authorities planned to build on.

The Gezi Park protests grew into a nationwide outpouring of anger against the perceived authoritarianism of the Turkish government under President Recep Tayyip Erdogan.

Kavala and co-defendants Mucella Yapici and Yigit Aksakoglu faced life in prison without parole had they been convicted; the other defendants each faced between 15 and 20 years behind bars.

The court, however, rejected the charge of trying to "overthrow the democratically elected Turkish government".

The trial had been closely watched by the European Union, international rights watchdog and the Turkish opposition to Erdogan, which took power in Istanbul in elections last year. The ambassadors of Britain, Belgium, Ireland, the United States and Luxemburg were present as the verdict was read out.

 'Good news (finally)'

Before the trial, Amnesty International warned that its outcome would show "whether respect for human rights has any part to play in the Turkish justice system."

The protests began with a few hundred people trying to protect one of the few green areas left in Istanbul from a plan to build a shopping mall.

The protests grew into a nationwide challenge to Erdogan's rule and were met by a police crackdown in which nine people died.

Erdogan claimed the protests were organised with the help of foreign powers and US billionaire philanthropist George Soros, founder of the Open Society Foundations.

Kavala, a former board member of the Open...