Istanbul (CNN) Turkish businessman and philanthropist Osman Kavala was re-arrested on Tuesday, just hours after a court acquitted him and eight other defendants over the 2013 protests in Istanbul's Gezi Park.

The high-profile trial was closely watched by rights groups, who had accused the Turkish government of using the judicial system to crack down on dissenting voices. Kavala's re-arrest was criticized by activists.

Kavala had spent more than two years in pre-trial detention over the Gezi Park protests, which began over a plan to turn a small park in central Istanbul into a shopping mall. The demonstrations quickly morphed into larger anti-government rallies across Turkey.

Turkish philanthropist Osman Kavala is pictured at a news conference in Belgium in December 2014.

The new order issued by the Istanbul Chief Public Prosecutor's Office seeks to keep Kavala in detention over the failed military coup in 2016. He was re-arrested and taken to police headquarters in Istanbul, state media reported Wednesday.

Kavala's acquittal Tuesday had initially been welcomed by rights groups. Following Tuesday's verdict, Milena Buyum, Amnesty International campaigner for Turkey, expressed her "huge relief" on Twitter.

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