'Partial amnesty' scenarios
It was decided that approximately 100 thousand convicts in open prisons who were released during the pandemic period would complete their sentences outside under supervised release. It was claimed that the scope of the regulation introduced in 2023 will be expanded. Accordingly, those who committed crimes before this date will complete their remaining sentences outside under supervised release. New details have emerged in the preparation defined as a partial amnesty.
"THEY WILL SERVE 3/4 OF THEIR PUNISHMENTS"According to the news in Türkiye Newspaper, the regulation that will be included in the new judicial package will include repeated crimes within the scope of the changes to be made in the penal execution system. Accordingly, with the new regulation that aims to rehabilitate the criminal, those in prison for repeated crimes will no longer serve the entire sentence, but three-quarters of it, and will be conditionally released on the grounds of "good behavior."
So what do criminal lawyers say about the regulation? Marmara University Faculty of Law Academician Prof. Dr. Ahmet Gökçen answered the questions of Habertürk Editor-in-Chief Mehmet Akif Ersoy about the partial amnesty regulation.
"OCCUPANCY IN PRISONS IS 130 PERCENT"Gökçen made the following statement: "As of today, there are approximately 390 thousand people in our prisons. Our prison population is around 285 thousand. In other words, there is a 130 percent occupancy. This is increasing day by day. There are several dimensions to the issue. First of all, an execution regulation was made with Law No. 7456. This preparation was made for those who were in prison until July 31, 2023. And an improvement was made in terms of execution for those who were in prison at that time. It was thought that the Constitutional Court would cancel it, but the Supreme Court did not cancel this regulation, which was against the principle of equality. When it did not cancel it, those who were in prison at that time, that is, as of July 31, 2023, benefited from this 5-year regulation."
"THE glitch is being fixed""But those who have not yet been tried or sentenced have not benefited from this. This problem is now being fixed. Along with this problem, it is planned to relieve overcrowded prisons. It would not be right to give a figure in terms of the number of prisoners."
"THE EXECUTION OF THE PUNISHMENT IS DETERMINED BY REGULATION"In executions, the court gives a sentence, but how this sentence will be executed is determined by the regulation. For example, in drug crimes or sexual crimes or terror-related crimes, there is a requirement to spend 75 percent, or three-fourths, in prison. For some crimes, this period is two-thirds, for some crimes, one-half. Therefore, we have a very complicated execution regulation. These were actually made a single prohibition in the law that went into effect on June 1, 2005, but since the conditions of the country make it easiest to change the regulations that determine this period of being released or staying in penal institutions, changes are made here and different situations are caused.
"In fact, the perception of impunity is a perception for us. In reality, our sentences are much higher than in European countries. In other words, very heavy sentences are given in our law, but first of all, there is a problem at the point of execution. Secondly, as a state, we cannot follow up well the people who are released on conditions or sent out on probation. In fact, this is one of the reasons for the perception of impunity. For example, in European countries, a person who is released on conditions can never travel around wherever he wants until he serves his sentence. He is subject to certain restrictions, certain deprivations of rights and is constantly kept under control. But since we cannot do this as a state, we encounter these people who are released later committing crimes again."
"REPEATED CRIME IS THE GUILTY OF THE CRIMINAL"Speaking to Habertürk, Assoc. Prof. Dr. Yılmaz Yazıcıoğlu also criticized the regulation and said: "Repeated crime is also the crime of the criminal. Simple crimes are called, that is, crimes such as wounding and theft are included in this scope. These crimes are also crimes that disrupt order in society. On the other hand, such crimes are not crimes committed against the state. There are victims here. Is permission obtained from them? These are crimes committed against citizens. In other words, while 5-10 people are happy, 5-10 people are also victimized."
"IT CONTAINS 50 THOUSAND PRISONERS"Bülent Aydemir from Habertürk also said, "A bill has been submitted to the Turkish Grand National Assembly for 50 thousand prisoners who cannot benefit from the Covid law. Will the scope be expanded? The Turkish Grand National Assembly will decide." Aydemir noted the following: "With the bill submitted to the Turkish Grand National Assembly, 50 thousand prisoners in this situation will also be able to benefit from supervised release. The Bill on Amendments to the Law No. 5275 on the Execution of Sentences and Security Measures is supported by all parties in the parliament."
"AN REGULATION FROM THE PERSPECTIVE OF EQUALITY PRINCIPLE"Justice Minister Yilmaz Tunc had also signaled that a regulation could be made that would allow those who committed a crime before that date but whose sentences had not been finalized at that time to benefit from the regulation known as the Covid Law, which was used by those whose sentences had been finalized as of July 31, 2023. Tunc said, "Those who committed a crime before those who were in prison in terms of their crime date could not benefit from this. They have a request on this issue. The discretion of this is in the Turkish Grand National Assembly. A regulation can be made here in terms of the principle of equality, but this is not an amnesty."
On the other hand, the figures regarding the number of people in prisons in the last 14 years were also learned. Accordingly, the number of prisoners and convicts in prisons, which was 116 thousand 340 in 2009, increased to 291 thousand 546 in 2019. Finally, it was learned that the number of prisoners and convicts in prisons in 2025 will be 392 thousand 456.
Habertürk
