Turkey to release thousands of prisoners amid Coronavirus pandemic

Turkey’s Parliament on Tuesday passed a law that will allow the release of tens of thousands of prisoners to stem the spread of COVID-19 in the jails.

Taking to Twitter, Parliament’s General Assembly said, “The draft has become law after being accepted”.

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The bill was supported by 279 lawmakers in the 600-seat chamber while 51 voted against it.

According to the law, about 45,000 prisoners will be temporarily released under judicial control till the end of May, and the authorities can extend the period twice by a maximum of two months, according to the media report.

Another batch of some 45,000 prisoners will be released permanently to reduce the overcrowding in jails.

Earlier on Monday, Justice Minister Abdulhamit Gul confirmed 17 cases of the novel coronavirus in five open prisons, while three inmates have died from the virus.

The death toll in the country from the coronavirus rose to 1,296, while 61,049 confirmed cases.

China, the epicenter of the virus, reported the highest number of new daily coronavirus cases in nearly six weeks, driven by a rise in infected travellers arriving from overseas and underscoring challenges Beijing faces in preventing a second wave of COVID-19.

Meanwhile, globally, nearly 1.85 million people are infected, while the death toll is over 1.14 lakh.