8/17/16

Turkey will grant early release to 38,000 prisoners who committed crimes before July 1, Justice Minister Bekir Bozdag has said, to make room for the tens of thousands of detentions made in connection with last month’s failed coup attempt.

According to decrees published on Wednesday, the release will not apply to convicts guilty of murder, sexual crimes, “terrorism” or state security crimes, or to the thousands jailed after the July 15 attempted coup.

The government decree, issued under Turkey’s three-month long state of emergency, allows the release of inmates who have two years or less to serve of their prison terms. It also makes convicts who have served half of their prison terms eligible for parole.

Read full story here: Al Jazeera