Osman Kavala speaking at the European Parliament headquarters in Brussels in 2014. Image: PAIn October 2017, Osman Kavala, an outstanding leader of Turkey's country's civil society, was arrested. Kavala has now been held in confinement for nearly 450 days. No charges have been made. None of any credibility are likely as he was scrupulously a man of peace. I wrote in protest at the outrage at the time. Democrats everywhere must ensure that Kavala's incarceration is not forgotten but acts instead as a reminder of the many other innocent victims suffering in Turkey and the quality of its extensive civil society of which Kavala is such an important representative.
Osman is being held in the Silivri high security prison on the outskirts of Istanbul. He can read newspapers and recieve mail. He has no access to the internet. He can also write letters which take their time to arrive. This is a missive addressed to his countrymen written last month and published online in Turkey in Diken. In it, with typical modesty and scupulousness, he discusses the role of the judiciary in political trials and how their wholesale nature can undermine the presumption of innocence. We are proud and honoured to carry it in openDemocracy. Anthony Barnett
