Turkey set to free half of its prisoners

ANKARA, Turkey -- Turkey is set to release half of the inmates in its jails, including a man who tried to assassinate Pope John Paul II, in a bid to ease pressure on its violent prison system.

The amnesty, which does not cover organised crime, rape and misuse of public funds, is expected to get around 30,000 prisoners out of a prison system where uprisings are common.

More than 200 prisoners are currently 50 days into a "death fast" to protest against planned new high security prisons and to demand the abolition of state security courts and anti-terrorism legislation. Last month, five people died after hostages were taken at the Usak prison in western Turkey.

However the law, which still needs presidential approval, does not lift a death sentence on Kurdish rebel Abdullah Ocalan and liberal critics say it favours common criminals rather than those imprisoned for nonviolent political activities.

Probably the internationally best-known beneficiary of the amnesty could be Papal assailant Mehmet Ali Agca, who tried to shoot dead Pope John Paul II in Saint Peter's Square, Rome, in 1981. The Pope was critically wounded in the attack.

He was jailed in June after his extradition from prison in Italy to Turkey for the 1979 murder of a left-leaning journalist, but technical issues may hinder his release.

Critics have also attacked a decision to exclude blind and ailing activist Esber Yagmurdereli from the amnesty. He must serve the remaining 20 years of a term for "spreading separatist propaganda" in a speech about the Kurdish rebel conflict.

"What contribution to society and the rule of law is freeing criminals?" asked Jonathan Sugden of Human Rights Watch. "If people like Yagmurdereli are in jail for the wrong reason, because of laws violating human rights, then laws must change."

Islamist ex-premier Necmettin Erbakan, who was due to begin a one-year term for sedition, will remain at liberty under the scheme.

The Council of Europe's Committee for the Prevention of Torture said this week police brutality is commonplace in Turkey and Amnesty International has warned of a "regime of isolation" in new cell-based jails.

The amnesty bill, passed late on Friday, has been the subject of horse-trading over a year between left and right wings of a fragile coalition.

Members of the far-right coalition partner Nationalist Action Party fought unsuccessfully for the release of right-wing hitman Haluk Kirci, who is serving a life sentence for the murders of seven leftist activists.

Public opinion is opposed to the measure with a survey showing only 23 percent support upon the general population.

Reuters contributed to this report.

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Turkish Grand National Assembly (in Turkish)

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