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 on Saturday, according to journalist Ahmet Kanbal, who posted video footage of the prison in fire and smoke and ashes.
Turkish government is preparing a judicial reform package, which includes the release of thousands of prisoners to stem Covid-19. The reform package, however, isn’t expected to include political prisoners who are being held in pre-trial detention over so-called “terror” links. In other words, thousands of purge-victims are exempted
Turkey has a total of 384 prisons.
Batman M Tipi Kapalı Cezaevi'nde tutukluların yangın çıkardığı ve isyan çıkardıkları belirtiliyor… Sosyal medyada yayınlanan görüntülerde cezaevinde isyan sesleri ve dumanlar yükseldiği görülüyor… pic.twitter.com/2RhNrdDs0m
— Ahmet Kanbal (@ahmetkanball) April 4, 2020
