Rights Defender's Long Sentence Shows Turkey's Authoritarian Path
Officially the verdict handed down on September 28 against the human rights defender Osman Kavala and four others was reached by Turkey’s top court of appeal. However it was pronounced well in advance, in speech after speech, by the country’s president. The verdict is a horrifying demonstration of the autocratic path Turkey has taken under the Erdogan presidency. Kavala faces a sentence of life in prison without parole, and the four others tried with him face 18 years, in connection with mass