An appeal court in Turkey on Friday annulled the decision that acquitted businessperson Osman Kavala and eight others of their alleged role in the Gezi Park protests in 2013.

Last year, the defendants were acquitted of charges linked to the Gezi Park protests.

The indictment against Kavala and others accused the suspects of financing and coordinating the actions and protests in 2013 while claiming that they had been involved and directed the aspects of an uprising since 2011.

Kavala has maintained that he took part in peaceful activities to defend the environment and the park, which is near his office, and rejected the accusation that he organized and financed the protests.

Hundreds of thousands of people marched in Istanbul in June 2013 in what began as a peaceful protest against a plan to build a replica of an Ottoman barracks on Gezi Park, which is located near Taksim Square in the city's central Beyoğlu district.

Following a harsh response by the police, the protests turned into nationwide demonstrations and riots against the government of then-Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan.