Prisoner releases begin under Türkiye's new execution reform

ISTANBUL

The first wave of prisoners was released overnight after Türkiye’s new execution regulation was published in the Official Gazette on June 4.

The Turkish parliament has approved a long-debated judicial reform package with a sweeping amendment to the country’s laws on the execution of sentences, opening the door to house arrest for sick and elderly prisoners.

Hundreds of people gathered in front of prisons in several cities from the evening hours onward to welcome their relatives expected to be released. Every vehicle emerging from the prison gates was met with eager anticipation, the crowd frequently broke into applause, local media showed.

Similar scenes were reported by local media in front of prisons in the capital Ankara, Istanbul and the southern city of Antalya.

Publicly referred to as the “10th Judicial Package,” the proposal was passed in a plenary session after lawmakers dropped eight articles from the original 30-article draft, following lengthy negotiations.

Under the new regulation, inmates suffering from severe illness or disability who are deemed not to pose a significant threat to public safety will now be eligible for conditional release or to serve the remainder of their sentences under house arrest. However, those convicted of aggravated life imprisonment will remain excluded from this provision.

The law also extends conditional release rights to individuals with repeat convictions for multiple offenses.

Sentences may be served under house arrest if a convict is determined to be incapable of sustaining life independently under prison conditions due to illness or disability, provided they do not pose a grave and tangible threat to public security.

On May 29, the ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP) parliamentary head Abdullah Güler announced that up to 20,000 convicts could potentially benefit from the new execution regulation.