European ministers will decide next month if they will intensify an already bitter dispute with Turkey over the continued detention of a civil society leader held without conviction since October 2017.
Ministers from the 47-nation Council of Europe are to meet on February 2 after Ankara ignored its demand to release Osman Kavala from prison. He was accused of financing 2013 anti-government protests and involvement in a 2016 coup plot.
Mr Kavala has denied all the accusations and the 64-year-old's supporters view his plight as a symbol of the purges President Recep Tayyip Erdogan unleashed after the coup attempt.
The council told Turkey it had until Wednesday of this week to release Kavala or provide legal justification for keeping him behind bars. The council confirmed it had received a letter from the Turkish government but said ministers will press ahead with deciding their next steps at the meeting.
If two thirds of the ministers of member countries agree, the case will be shunted back to the European Court of Human Rights which first ruled that Mr Kavala’s detention was politically motivated in 2019.
The council has already launched informal infringement proceedings against Ankara — only the second time this has happened in the last 12 years. Previous action by the council led to opposition politician Ilgar Mammadov receiving compensation after serving more than five years behind bars in Azerbaijan.
The Council of Europe's infringement procedures against Turkey could last months and possibly years. But they could ultimately see Turkey losing its voting rights or even being kicked out of the pan-European rights body that it joined in 1950.
An appeal from 10 Western countries last October — including the US and major European powers — for Turkey to release Mr Kavala triggered a diplomatic standoff that nearly saw Ankara expel their ambassadors.
Turkey's foreign ministry said it views the council's actions as “interference” in an ongoing court case.
Government critics say Turkey's standoff with the body underscores the profound erosion of human rights under Mr Erdogan's two-decade rule.
Madeleine Joelson, executive director of the US-based Turkish Democracy Project, said: “In defying the Council of Europe’s request for the Turkish government to release Osman Kavala, the Turkish President has made clear his intention to contravene international law and violate human rights regardless of consequence.”
UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
Types of bank fraud
1) Phishing
Fraudsters send an unsolicited email that appears to be from a financial institution or online retailer. The hoax email requests that you provide sensitive information, often by clicking on to a link leading to a fake website.
2) Smishing
The SMS equivalent of phishing. Fraudsters falsify the telephone number through “text spoofing,” so that it appears to be a genuine text from the bank.
3) Vishing
The telephone equivalent of phishing and smishing. Fraudsters may pose as bank staff, police or government officials. They may persuade the consumer to transfer money or divulge personal information.
4) SIM swap
Fraudsters duplicate the SIM of your mobile number without your knowledge or authorisation, allowing them to conduct financial transactions with your bank.
5) Identity theft
Someone illegally obtains your confidential information, through various ways, such as theft of your wallet, bank and utility bill statements, computer intrusion and social networks.
6) Prize scams
Fraudsters claiming to be authorised representatives from well-known organisations (such as Etisalat, du, Dubai Shopping Festival, Expo2020, Lulu Hypermarket etc) contact victims to tell them they have won a cash prize and request them to share confidential banking details to transfer the prize money.
If you go
The flights
Etihad (etihad.com) flies from Abu Dhabi to Luang Prabang via Bangkok, with a return flight from Chiang Rai via Bangkok for about Dh3,000, including taxes. Emirates and Thai Airways cover the same route, also via Bangkok in both directions, from about Dh2,700.
The cruise
The Gypsy by Mekong Kingdoms has two cruising options: a three-night, four-day trip upstream cruise or a two-night, three-day downstream journey, from US$5,940 (Dh21,814), including meals, selected drinks, excursions and transfers.
The hotels
Accommodation is available in Luang Prabang at the Avani, from $290 (Dh1,065) per night, and at Anantara Golden Triangle Elephant Camp and Resort from $1,080 (Dh3,967) per night, including meals, an activity and transfers.
Cherry
Directed by: Joe and Anthony Russo
Starring: Tom Holland, Ciara Bravo
1/5
Who was Alfred Nobel?
The Nobel Prize was created by wealthy Swedish chemist and entrepreneur Alfred Nobel.
- In his will he dictated that the bulk of his estate should be used to fund "prizes to those who, during the preceding year, have conferred the greatest benefit to humankind".
- Nobel is best known as the inventor of dynamite, but also wrote poetry and drama and could speak Russian, French, English and German by the age of 17. The five original prize categories reflect the interests closest to his heart.
- Nobel died in 1896 but it took until 1901, following a legal battle over his will, before the first prizes were awarded.
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