The Council of Europe has announced statistics on prisoners in prisons for 2020. While the number of prisoners in the countries generally decreased in 7 years, this number increased in Turkey. Turkey has the highest number of prisoners in prisons among European countries.
According to statistics, 357 people are in prison in Turkey, compared to every 100 thousand people. Russia followed Turkey with 356 people per 100 thousand, and Georgia with 264 people per 100 thousand. Attorney Yurdal Kılıçer, founder of Liberta Law & Consultancy, made statements to our newspaper on the subject.
"DETENTION RATES INCREASED IN JUDICIAL OFFENSES"
"There are several reasons why the prisons in the country have been full in recent years and the existing prisons are inadequate and there is a need for new prisons to be built. The first of these reasons is the operations against FETÖ, PKK and other terrorist organizations that Turkey has experienced in recent years. This is a valid reason. Within the framework of the fight against terrorism and in cases determined by law, it is natural that the rates of detention will increase. However, another reason is the increase in detention rates in criminal offenses. This situation arises entirely from the practices of judicial authorities due to public perception and pressure," Kılıçer said.
"FROM THE BASIC PRINCIPLES OF LAW SHOULD NOT BE COMPRESSED IN ANY WAY"
Violation of the "presumption of innocence" is a very common situation, especially in criminal proceedings, except in the case of pre-trial detention. He said that instead of going from "evidence to crime and criminal", wrong practices such as "from crime and criminal to evidence" are frequently encountered.
Kılıçer said, "For this reason, punishing, punishing and arresting seems to be a success. The fundamental principles of the law such as "the right to a fair trial, the right to defense, the presumption of innocence" should not be compromised in any way".