Interviews

Let’s not forget Turkey’s political prisoners in the face of COVID19 threat

Law no. 7242’s amendments worsen already existing injustice in Turkey’s criminal justice system. The notorious mob leader, Alaattin Cakici, was released as soon as President Erdogan approved the amendments, while the award winning author, Ahmet Altan, hundreds of lawyers and journalists, remain in prison. Considering that, only in Izmir (Buca) Prison, 65 inmates tested COVID19, this danger is not remote, imagined or simply feared but actual and imminent. Therefore, we must continue to advocate on their behalf to show they are not forsaken.

Turkey’s Draconian Anti-Terror Laws

According to our survey carried out on the Turkish Justice Ministry’s statistics of their operations in the last five years, there is a steady increase in the use of anti-terrorism law on individuals by public prosecutors. So, while 8,324 people were indicted under Article 314 of the TPC in 2013, 146,718 people were indicted under the same Article in 2017.