Turkish court acquits 16 Gezi Park protests defendants including philanthropist Osman Kavala

A Turkish court acquitted all 16 protesters over their alleged role in the 2013 Gezi Park protests in Istanbul.

This is a welcome conclusion to a controversial trial that had been heavily criticised as an attempt by the government to silence opposition voices.

The defendants included businessman Osman Kavala and had been accused of attempting to overthrow the government by organising mass demonstrations.

As the judge delivered the verdict he said there was "not enough concrete evidence" against the accused.

Turkish prosecutors were seeking an aggravated life sentence for prominent businessman Osman Kavala accused of orchestrating 2013 anti-government protests.

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Kavala, a philanthropist, is one of 16 people in the dock.

In jail since November 2017, he has become a symbol of what his supporters say is a crackdown on civil society.

In December, the Strasbourg-based European Court of Human Rights ruled that Kavala's rights were violated by more than two years in detention and criticised the charges against him.

But the court in Silivri on the outskirts of Istanbul had initially ruled that he should stay in jail despite the ruling.

President Recep Tayyip Erdogan had linked Kavala to US billionaire George Soros, whose efforts to promote democracy around the world have made him a target for several authoritarian leaders.

Aggravated sentences, which replaced the death penalty in Turkey, carry harsher prison penalties than others.

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