The retiral of defendants accused of attempting to overthrow the government through the 2013 Gezi Park protests began in Istanbul on Friday.
Philanthropist Osman Kavala and 15 other civil society activists were acquitted last year of various charges in relation to organising the protests but saw the decision overturned on appeal in January.
The Gezi Park protests, as they became known, began with a small sit-in against efforts to demolish one of Istanbul’s last green spaces but quickly snowballed into a mass popular mobilisation against police brutality and the growing authoritarianism of the ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP)
Critics say the renewed legal proceedings against Kavala and his fellow defendants are a politically motivated attempt to stifle dissent and punish human rights defenders.
Several former AKP ministers named as complainants in the trial as victims of efforts to oust the government have criticised the case.
Speaking to Ahval, then justice minister Sadullah Ergin, said: “We are not affected parties or complainants in the Gezi case, nor did we wish to be a party in proceedings.”
At a press conference ahead of the trial a lawyer for the defendants, Evren İşler, said: “The appeal decision of the Gezi trial tells us: ‘Okay, you haven’t found any evidence, then look here, if not, check here too. Isn’t it there too?’”
“The Gezi file is trying to be prosecuted with an indictment that does not contain any evidence,” he added.
The prosecution is seeking separate sentences of between 606 and 2,970 years for those accused.
Ahval