Turkish justice minister: 120 prisoners tested positive for COVID-19 to date
A total of 120 prisoners across Turkey have been diagnosed with COVID-19 since the beginning of the pandemic, according to Turkish Justice Minister Abdülhamit Gül announced on Tuesday. “They are all receiving treatment in the hospital,” Gül said. “There are no...
Coronavirus release bill: Turkey starts releasing inmates. Thousands of purge-victims exempted
Turkish authorities begun to release prisoners to stem the spread of COVID-19 hours after a release bill was approved by the Turkish parliament on Tuesday. In the upcoming weeks, around 45,000 prisoners are expected to be released to stem the spread of the...
Turkish journalist says she is not released despite completion of prison term
Turkish journalist Büşra Erdal said in a letter that she continues to "languish" in a prison despite completion of her prison term, the Gülen-friendly website TR724 reported. "As of March 2020, I completed a total of 3 years, 8 months in prison. This means I qualify...
74-year-old former AKP deputy denied release from prison
Turkey's Constitutional Court on Monday rejected an appeal to release İlhan İşbilen, a 74-year-old former AKP deputy, from prison, the TR724 reported. İşbilen was sent to prison in 2015 over his alleged links to Turkey's Gülen group, accused by the government of...
Turkish opposition to take Erdogan-supported release bill to Constitutional Court
Turkey’s main opposition Republican People’s Party (CHP) has said it is preparing to file a complaint with the Constitutional Court about a controversial early release bill aimed at reducing the country’s prison population amid the COVID-19 outbreak, the T24 news...
Turkish parliament passes coronavirus release bill that excludes political prisoners
Turkey’s parliament passed a bill on Tuesday that will allow the release of tens of thousands of prisoners as part of the country's ongoing struggle against the COVID-19 epidemic. Political prisoners who are convicted or being held in pre-trial detention over "terror...
Justice Minister confirms: 3 inmates died of COVID-19 in Turkish prisons to date
Three people have died of coronavirus in Turkish prisons so far, according to the country's justice minister, Abdulhamit Gül. The minister also said that 17 other convicts in five open prisons have contracted the virus. Turkey has a total of 384 prisons. These...
Turkish court arrests amateur comedian for “insulting” Ataturk
A Turkish court has ruled to imprison an amateur comedian on charges of insulting Mustafa Kemal Atatürk, the founder of modern Turkey, and the famous mystic Rumi in his shows, according to Turkish media reports. A video posted on social media last week showed comedian...
Purge-victim man attends daughter’s funeral in handcuffs
H.G., a Turkish man who was sentenced to 7,5 years in prison over Gulen links, was released from prison for a day to attend his daughter's funeral in handcuffs. The purge-victim man has reportedly been held in prison for over three years. Last year, he was given a...
2 doctors in İzmir Prison tested positive for COVID-19
Two doctors in Şakran Prison in the western port city of İzmir have tested positive for COVID-19, according to a joint statement by the Turkish Human Rights Foundation (TİHV) and the country’s Human Rights Association (İHD). The two rights groups urged authorities to...
Body of Kurdish man sent to family via PTT Cargo
Body of a Kurdish man has been sent to his family by Turkish authorities via the country's primary postal operator, PTT. The man, named Agit İpek, reportedly died in a clash with the Turkish security force members in 2017. After two-year long investigation, Turkish...
President Erdoğan files criminal complaint against critical TV anchor
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan has filed a criminal complaint against Fox TV news anchor Fatih Portakal, due to a tweet about a speech he gave on Monday. In the tweet Portakal speculated as to whether Erdoğan had hinted at a possible requisitioning of bank...
Turkish authorities report first inmate death from coronavirus
Mehmet Yeter, a 70-year-old inmate at Turkey's Samsun prison, died of coronavirus, according to health officials. Yeter's death is the first reported in the country as a result of the virus. Turkey has a total of 384 prisons. These overcrowded, unhygienic prisons are...
Purge-victim nuclear cardiology professor invited to the USA over “promising coronavirus vaccine research”
Murat Sadıç, a nuclear cardiology professor who reportedly spent over a year in a Turkish prison in 2017 over alleged coup charges, has been invited to the United States due to his "promising coronavirus vaccine research" in Germany. According to the Bold Medya news...
Turkey arrests another journalist for insulting “Erdogan’s call to raise funds for COVID-19 relief
Turkish journalist Hakan Aygün was sent to prison on Friday over Twitter posts that "insults" President Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s call to raise funds to aid victims of the coronavirus epidemic. According to BBC Türkçe, Aygün was jailed for “inciting hatred and hostility...
Purge-victim Çanakkale woman “possibly” commits suicide: report
A Turkish woman from the city of Çanakkale committed suicide on Saturday, according to thepro-Kurdish HDP deputy Ömer Faruk Gergerlioğlu. The HDP deputy said that it has not yet been confirmed whether the woman committed suicide or "fell off balcony." "I was informed...
Prison riot in southeast Turkey over coronavirus fears
Inmates at a prison in the Kurdish-majority city of Batman staged a riot over fears of contamination amid a coronavirus outbreak that has seen more than 25,000 infections and over 500 deaths in the country. The unrest took place in Batman’s Type-M closed prison early...
Turkish journalist berifly detained for protesting Erdogan’s call to raise funds for coronavirus relief
Turkish journalist Hakan Gülseven was briefly detained on Tuesday for using a Twitter tag that translates as "not a smallest bit" in response to President Recep Tayyip Erdogan's call to raise funds to aid victims of the coronavirus epidemic. "I was detaind and...