18.03.2025 12:10
Justice Minister Yılmaz Tunç, who met with members of the press at an iftar program in the capital, stated regarding the discussions on a general amnesty, "There is no regulation or improvement aimed at individuals. We are continuously making certain improvements in our legislation. For example, we say that sick inmates should not die in prison. This is against human rights. It is not correct to interpret these as a general amnesty."
During the iftar program held at the Dikmen Judicial Complex, Minister of Justice Yılmaz Tunç met with members of the press, emphasizing that the month of Ramadan is a time of unity and solidarity, and stating that feelings of brotherhood are further strengthened during this month. After the iftar program, Minister Tunç engaged in conversation with the press, providing important evaluations on many current issues, including discussions about amnesty.
IS A GENERAL AMNESTY COMING?
"There is no arrangement or improvement specific to individuals. We are continuously making various improvements in our legislation. For example, we say that sick prisoners should not die in prison. This is against human rights. It is not correct to interpret these as a general amnesty. We said there could be a study regarding Covid leave. This led to some interpretations like 'Is amnesty coming?'. The issue there is entirely related to the Covid leave process. In 2020, those who benefited from Covid leave and were in open prison were released under supervised release. As long as Covid continues, this period has been extended until July 31, 2023. After that date, an arrangement was made for those who have 5 years left until their conditional release to continue their lives under Covid leave, while those with more than 5 years until conditional release would return to prison. Approximately 100,000 people benefited from this arrangement. Those in closed prisons also transitioned to open prisons 3 years early. Those who were sentenced and in prison as of July 31, 2023 benefited from this arrangement.
"IT IS NOT CORRECT TO ASSESS THAT AN AMNESTY IS COMING FROM HERE."
On July 31, 2023, there was a situation where those who had committed crimes earlier but whose sentences had not yet been finalized and who had not yet gone to prison could not benefit from this arrangement due to delays in the trial. There have been applications and requests in this regard. There may be an arrangement in line with these requests. It is not correct to assess that an amnesty is coming from here; there is no amnesty on the agenda.
DISCUSSION OF THE RIGHT TO HOPE
The Right to Hope is not a subject in our legislation or laws. The conditional release period for prisoners sentenced to aggravated life imprisonment is 30 years. Again, the conditional release period for life imprisonment sentences is 24 years. When these years are completed, if the person is well-behaved in prison, they are released. If there are multiple aggravated life sentences, a different situation applies. There is a special provision in the penal execution law stating that there is no conditional release for aggravated life sentences converted from the death penalty. Of course, the topic we will discuss now is the disbandment of terrorism and the laying down of arms. This is the main focus of our attention right now.
There is no condition, no request for conditional release or a right to hope in this call. Here, the leader of the terrorist organization has made a call to the organization. The addressee is not the State, but the organization. Therefore, we will all see how the organization will evaluate this. If it is evaluated, terrorism would be over. If it is not evaluated, the fight against terrorism will continue. There is currently no work on other issues either. We can express this clearly.
CLAIM OF ISOLATION IN IMRALI
There is no isolation in Imrali. In the past, it was always said that there was isolation and that his health was deteriorating. However, it has been revealed that none of this is true, that there are other prisoners with him, and that his health condition is not bad; these were all disinformation. The conditions of prisoners in prison are clear. There is no distinction based on the prisoner. Health conditions, food, and shelter conditions are all carried out in accordance with our legislation.
WILL ÖCALAN MAKE A VIDEO CALL?
In our Penal Execution Legislation, the conditions under which prisoners can meet with their relatives and how they can contact the outside world are specified. They can send letters and make phone calls. These are matters stipulated in the legislation. However, it is not possible for them to establish contact via a video call. They can send letters. Prisoners can write letters, and letters can be written to prisoners. There is currently no such request. If there is a request, an evaluation regarding the letter can be made.
If they are going to send a letter to celebrate Nevruz, that letter must be in line with the spirit of this call; otherwise, the call loses its meaning. Otherwise, you would be tearing up the call. Therefore, it could be a message that does not exceed those limits. If something different that goes beyond that call occurs, it would be a statement that harms the process. Therefore, I think that this path will not be taken.
WAS A VIDEO RECORDED?
A photo was taken there, and a video was recorded. The video is entirely a video taken by the state for security and intelligence purposes.
REGULATION REGARDING THOSE IN 4/4 RECIDIVISM
This issue is related to those who are in recidivism in prisons, meaning those who repeatedly commit minor offenses and whether they can benefit from conditional release. According to our penal execution legislation, when a person commits a minor offense for the first time, excluding terrorism, sexual offenses, and drug offenses, they can benefit from supervised release if they have served half of their sentence in prison, with one year remaining until their conditional release.
If they commit a second offense, they serve 2/3 of their sentence; if they commit a third offense, they serve their entire sentence, meaning 4/4 of it in prison. There are complaints about why those in prison for minor offenses serve their entire sentence in prison while a terrorist or drug offender serves only 3/4 of their sentence.
Many applications are being made regarding the hope of rehabilitation by serving 3/4 of their sentence for those in this situation in prison. The issue of making a regulation in this regard is, of course, at the discretion of our esteemed members of parliament and our grand assembly.
WORDS OF EKREM İMAMOĞLU
The statements of the Mayor of Istanbul Metropolitan Municipality towards our esteemed President are very ugly expressions. It is truly a disgrace for both the CHP and himself for a Mayor to use such expressions towards the President of this country.
It creates a perception that there is a constant judicial harassment against him. The issues he is being tried for are clear. One is the statement he made to the members of the Supreme Election Council. There is an ongoing process in the Court of Appeals. 'Why is the Court of Appeals not making a decision? It should decide as soon as possible.' The Court of Appeals will not ask you when it will make a decision. You say it is a neutral and independent judiciary, and then you say, 'make a quick decision about me.' The other is the word he said to the Governor of Ordu. We cannot say it from here. But he said it. He was convicted in that case in the Court of Cassation. It was converted to a monetary fine.
Lastly, there is a case opened regarding the statements made about the Istanbul Chief Public Prosecutor after the investigation concerning the Mayor of Esenyurt and a case regarding his diploma.
```html
It is clear who is complaining about the diploma.
If you use threatening statements and inappropriate words targeting the investigations conducted by the judiciary, this will not work. Our nation will not approve of this. You have your defense, there are appeal mechanisms, and there are other ways to apply as soon as the decisions are made.
Here, especially by creating a perception of victimization through the investigations conducted by the judiciary, you are entering a situation like 'they want to block me.' We all see it; the expressions used in those candidate meetings are not acceptable expressions.
CREATION OF THE JUSTICE SERVICE CLASS
We continue our efforts to accelerate justice. The justice service class is necessary. Now our correctional officers also want to be part of the security services class. They also perform many risky duties. We have included the issue of establishing the justice service class as a target in our Judicial Reform Strategy Document, which our President has shared with the public. We are preparing the legal regulation on this matter. We will implement it within a certain timeline in the coming days.
WORKLOAD OF THE JUDICIARY
The issue we are currently focusing on regarding the judiciary is preventing delays in certain types of cases. There is particularly a concentration in the appellate courts. In the appellate courts, some chambers, chambers related to labor law, rental cases, and divorce cases arising from family law... In the last year, we opened nearly 3,000 new courts. We ensured the establishment of nearly 100 new chambers in the appellate courts. Last year, our judicial organization, including prosecutors, issued 13 million 900 thousand decisions. The number of pending cases became 11 million. The previous year, in 2023, 12 million decisions were also made. The pending cases remained at 11 million. We have a backlog of cases. However, we see that the number of decisions issued increases by 1 million each year. This is, of course, due to the increase in the number of judges. We have increased the number of judges and prosecutors to 25,000. In terms of better training for judges and prosecutors, we have transitioned to the Assistant Judge and Prosecutor System. Instead of a 2-year candidacy, we have moved to a 3-year assistantship system. The entrance exam for legal professions will also bring quality. We have raised the quota for law faculties to a success ranking of 100,000, which will be implemented this year.
All of these are efforts that both increase quality and ensure the acceleration of the judiciary. All of these efforts will bear fruit in the upcoming process.
```