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| - Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan renewed criticism of leading civil society figure Osman Kavala on Wednesday, a day after he was acquitted in court and then swiftly detained again in a separate case. Nine defendants including Kavala were acquitted on Tuesday of seeking to overthrow the government with the mass "Gezi Park" protests in 2013. But hours later a fresh arrest warrant was issued against the rights defender, this time linking him to the failed coup in 2016. In a speech to his party, Erdogan again emphasised Kavala's links to US billionaire and democracy activist George Soros, suggesting this proved he was seeking to undermine the government. Erdogan has previously said Kavala was a Turkish agent of Soros, who he accused of trying to "divide and tear up nations". Funding philanthropic projects across the world, Soros has become a favourite target of far-right extremists in many countries. "There are Soros-like people behind the curtains who seek to stir up things by provoking revolt in some countries," Erdogan said. "The Turkey branch of this was in prison, but they dared to acquit him," he added. He described the Gezi protests as a "despicable attack just like military coups", adding: "They were not innocent riots". Kavala worked with Soros's Open Society Foundation before it was banned from Turkey, as well as a number of high-profile civil society groups. The court near Istanbul found there was not enough evidence to prove he orchestrated the protests as claimed by the prosecution. The Council of Judges and Prosecutors -- a body which conducts disciplinary procedures in the Turkish legal system -- meanwhile has launched an inquiry into the panel of judges who ordered the acquittal of the Gezi trial defendants including Kavala, the official Anadolu news agency reported on Wednesday. The European Court of Human Rights ruled in December that Kavala's indictment included no evidence of criminal activity and many rights groups have called his trial a mockery of justice. The Gezi Park protests were sparked by plans to build over a rare green space in the heart of Istanbul but then snowballed into nationwide demonstrations against Erdogan's rule. Kavala, the only defendant kept in jail throughout the trial, faced a life sentence without parole if convicted. The Council of Europe, a 47-nation body overseeing human rights of which Turkey is a member, published a report Wednesday calling for judicial independence to be restored after the state of emergency. "The Turkish judiciary displays, especially in terrorism-related cases, unprecedented levels of disregard for even the most basic principles of law," it said. fo/har
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