The European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) has ordered Turkey to immediately release philanthropist and activist Osman Kavala, who has been imprisoned for almost a decade on charges widely considered as politically motivated. The ECHR's ruling on Tuesday declared that Kavala's continued detention was unlawful, citing violations of his rights to fair trial, freedom of expression, and association. The court found that the measures against Kavala were predominantly motivated by a desire to punish him for his role in the Gezi Park demonstrations and to silence him as a human rights defender. The ECHR also deemed his aggravated life sentence as amounting to "inhuman and degrading treatment." The court's ruling highlights a systemic problem in Turkey of detaining political opponents, human rights defenders, and journalists, with structural shortcomings affecting the judiciary's independence and impartiality. Kavala, aged 68, became a symbol of government crackdown on civil society following his arrest in October 2017. The Turkish authorities have been accused of using the country's courts to target critics and rivals, a claim the government denies. Kavala was initially acquitted in February 2020 but was rearrested within hours on new charges related to a failed military coup in 2016. His conviction over the Gezi Park protests has since been declared "null and void" by the ECHR, following two previous rulings that Turkey did not implement. The case remains one of the most serious recent flashpoints between Ankara and Strasbourg, with the Council of Europe set to prioritize the Kavala case at a meeting in mid-September, but it remains unclear whether Turkey will comply with the ECHR's third binding ruling.