Turkey set to Free 38,000 Prisoners

Turkey plans to free 38,000 prisoners who have less than two years left on their sentence. The announcement is part of a decree made Wednesday, to make room in jails for the thousands of people it’s arrested in recent weeks for allegedly participating in a failed coup attempt.

Turkish justice minister Bekir Bozdag announced the decree in a series of tweets Wednesday morning. He cautioned that the releases are not pardons but rather conditional releases.

“This measure is not an amnesty. The punishment will be served outside through supervised released,” Bozdag said on Twitter. “I hope that the arrangement is beneficial to the prisoners, their loved ones, our people and our country,” the minister wrote.

In addition to those inmates with less than two years left on their sentence, prisoners who have served more than half of their sentences would be eligible for parole. The decree will not apply to inmates in jail on murder, terrorism, domestic abuse or sexual assault charges.

Read more at VOA

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