ERBIL, Kurdistan Region - Turkish parliament passed legislation to free tens of thousands of prisoners in the early hours of Tuesday in response to the coronavirus outbreak, despite fierce push-back from opposition groups and human rights watchdogs.
“The draft has been accepted and become law,” reads a tweet from the parliament’s general assembly official Twitter account.
The law passed with a 279-51 majority, Amnesty campaigner in Turkey Milena Buyum tweeted.
She added that after several days of debates in parliament, including some which lasted until the early hours, "not one of the opposition's amendments have been accepted".
Drafted by the ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP) and its far-right ally, the Nationalist Movement Party (MHP), opposition parties criticize the bill, saying rapists, domestic abusers, and drug dealers should not benefit from the deal while those imprisoned on controversial terrorism charges languish in prison.
The law affects several types of prisoners, including pregnant women and older people with medical conditions.
But it excludes murderers, sexual offenders and narcotics criminals.
The pro-Kurdish Peoples’ Democratic Party (HDP) has strongly opposed the bill, with thousands of members and politicians behind bars - mostly accused of having ties with the Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK), an armed group fighting for Kurdish cultural and political rights in Turkey.
HDP deputies protested the bill on its first session, calling for equality in who the bill applies to and raising signs with slogans like "corona[virus] doesn't discriminate against prisoners.”
The HDP released a joint statement alongside ten smaller parties last week, claiming the rights of the opposition have been “violated” in this new bill.
“The rights of the opposition members are openly violated. This government is discriminatory. The imprisoned politicians, former members of parliament, mayors, journalists, academics, students and citizens, who have simply used their freedom of expression on social media are excluded from this legislation,” reads the statement.
According to the statement, 282,703 people have been jailed across Turkey in 355 prisons.
Turkey’s Human Rights Watch (HRW) Director Emma Sinclair-Webb has called for the release of prisoners regardless of their political affiliation in the face of a potential coronavirus outbreak in overcrowded prisons.
“Terrorism may sound like the gravest of offenses, but in Turkey, the government misuses the charge for political ends. Many inmates are placed in lengthy pretrial detention or sentenced without evidence that they committed violent acts, incited violence, or provided logistical help to outlawed armed groups,” Sinclair-Webb said in a statement last month.
Three Turkish prisoners have died from the coronavirus, Turkey's justice minister said Monday as he announced the first cases of convicts diagnosed with the disease.
A total of 17 convicts in five open prisons have contracted the virus, Abdulhamit Gul told reporters in Ankara.
Turkey has recorded more than 61,000 infections while nearly 1,300 people have died, according to health ministry figures published on Monday.
“The draft has been accepted and become law,” reads a tweet from the parliament’s general assembly official Twitter account.
The law passed with a 279-51 majority, Amnesty campaigner in Turkey Milena Buyum tweeted.
She added that after several days of debates in parliament, including some which lasted until the early hours, "not one of the opposition's amendments have been accepted".
Drafted by the ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP) and its far-right ally, the Nationalist Movement Party (MHP), opposition parties criticize the bill, saying rapists, domestic abusers, and drug dealers should not benefit from the deal while those imprisoned on controversial terrorism charges languish in prison.
The law affects several types of prisoners, including pregnant women and older people with medical conditions.
But it excludes murderers, sexual offenders and narcotics criminals.
The pro-Kurdish Peoples’ Democratic Party (HDP) has strongly opposed the bill, with thousands of members and politicians behind bars - mostly accused of having ties with the Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK), an armed group fighting for Kurdish cultural and political rights in Turkey.
HDP deputies protested the bill on its first session, calling for equality in who the bill applies to and raising signs with slogans like "corona[virus] doesn't discriminate against prisoners.”
The HDP released a joint statement alongside ten smaller parties last week, claiming the rights of the opposition have been “violated” in this new bill.
“The rights of the opposition members are openly violated. This government is discriminatory. The imprisoned politicians, former members of parliament, mayors, journalists, academics, students and citizens, who have simply used their freedom of expression on social media are excluded from this legislation,” reads the statement.
According to the statement, 282,703 people have been jailed across Turkey in 355 prisons.
Turkey’s Human Rights Watch (HRW) Director Emma Sinclair-Webb has called for the release of prisoners regardless of their political affiliation in the face of a potential coronavirus outbreak in overcrowded prisons.
“Terrorism may sound like the gravest of offenses, but in Turkey, the government misuses the charge for political ends. Many inmates are placed in lengthy pretrial detention or sentenced without evidence that they committed violent acts, incited violence, or provided logistical help to outlawed armed groups,” Sinclair-Webb said in a statement last month.
Three Turkish prisoners have died from the coronavirus, Turkey's justice minister said Monday as he announced the first cases of convicts diagnosed with the disease.
A total of 17 convicts in five open prisons have contracted the virus, Abdulhamit Gul told reporters in Ankara.
Turkey has recorded more than 61,000 infections while nearly 1,300 people have died, according to health ministry figures published on Monday.
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