Turkish human rights activist Osman Kavala awarded Václav Havel Human Rights Prize

The eleventh Václav Havel Human Rights Prize, which honours outstanding civil society action in defence of human rights, has been awarded to the imprisoned Turkish human rights defender, philanthropist and civil society activist Osman Kavala. The 60,000 euro prize was presented at a special ceremony on the opening day of the autumn plenary session of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe (PACE) in Strasbourg. Mr Kavala, a supporter of numerous civil society organizations in Türkiye for many years, has been in prison continuously since 2017 following his arrest for his alleged links to the Gezi Park protests.