Joint statement to release political prisoners in Turkey

Authorities around the world are granting temporary or early release to prisoners to address the spread of the coronavirus in overcrowded prisons. The Turkish government has drafted legislation to give almost 100,000 prisoners this respite, but that will not include any political prisoners; a category which includes journalists, lawyers, politicians and human rights defenders. Dr Ugur Tok of the Platform for Peace and Justice launches a civil society call on the Turkish government to also include those unjustly detained on terrorism charges in the bill.