Top Turkish court rules jailing of businessman Osman Kavala lawful

The General Assembly of Turkey's Constitutional Court, the country's highest, ruled on Dec. 29 that businessman Osman Kavala's detention did not violate his rights to liberty and security.

Kavala, 63, has been jailed since late 2017.

Kavala was first arrested on criminal charges related to the 2013 Gezi protests when small protests in Istanbul spread into nationwide demonstrations which left eight protesters and a police officer dead.

Turkey's government has said the protests amounted​​​​​​​ to a coup attempt.

He was briefly released earlier this year but later remanded into custody by an Istanbul court as part of a probe into the 2016 defeated coup, with prosecutors accusing him of spying.

FETÖ and its U.S.-based leader Fetullah Gülen orchestrated the defeated coup of July 15, 2016, which left 251 people killed and nearly 2,200 injured.

Turkey accuses FETÖ of a long-running campaign to overthrow the state through the infiltration of Turkish institutions, particularly the military, police, and judiciary.

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