ERBIL, Kurdistan Region – Turkey has released 650 prisoners since Tuesday evening under measures to contain the spread of COVID-19. Critics say journalists, activists, and political prisoners should be included among the 90,000 inmates tipped for early release.
Drafted by the ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP) and its far-right Nationalist Movement Party (MHP) ally, the amnesty law was approved by the Turkish parliament in the early hours of Tuesday morning with a 279-51 majority.
Under the amnesty, 45,000 prisoners will be released with judicial control (house arrest) and 45,000 others will be released permanently.
So far, roughly 650 prisoners have been released from jails across Turkey, the state-owned Anadolu Agency said Wednesday.
Prisoners over the age of 65, women with children under the age of six, and inmates who cannot take care of themselves will be placed under house arrest, the agency said.
However, political prisoners, journalists, sex criminals, drug dealers, murderers, and people convicted under Turkey’s controversial terror law are excluded from the amnesty.
Critics say government opponents, journalists, and activists must be included in the amnesty.
Nacho Sanchez Amor, the European Parliament’s rapporteur on Turkey, and Sergey Lagodinsky, chair of the parliament’s delegation to the EU-Turkey Joint Parliamentary Committee, called the law “discriminatory” and “a great disappointment.”
“The legal amendments by the Turkish parliament allowing the release of 90,000 prisoners, but excluding those imprisoned for their political activities and citizens in pre-trial detention, is a great disappointment,” they said in a joint statement.
“We had hoped that the Turkish parliament would adopt a fair, responsible, and non-discriminatory law that would save lives from being lost in overcrowded Turkish prisons. Such a law is needed, especially for those unjustly detained and imprisoned for political reasons,” they said.
“Instead, the Turkish ruling parties have decided to deliberately expose the lives of journalists, human rights defenders, and those whom they deem to be political opponents to the risk of the deadly disease COVID 19,” they added.
Amnesty International has also criticized the law, saying it “leaves the innocent and vulnerable prisoners at risk.”
In late March, Emma Sinclair-Webb, Turkey director at Human Rights Watch (HRW), called for the release of prisoners regardless of their political affiliation in the face of a potential coronavirus outbreak in overcrowded prisons.
Opposition parties have also condemned the amnesty law, saying rapists, domestic abusers, and drug dealers should not benefit from the deal while those imprisoned on controversial terrorism charges languish in prison.
At least three Turkish prisoners have died from the coronavirus and a total of 17 convicts have tested positive, according to Turkish justice minister Abdulhamit Gul.
Turkey has recorded 69,392 infections while almost 1,518 people have died, according to health ministry figures published late on Wednesday.
