Turkey’s prison population continues to rise

ISTANBUL

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Turkey’s prison population rose by nearly 12 percent in 2015, the Turkish Statistical Institute (TÜİK) said on Dec. 2.      

The number of prisoners stood at 177,262 by the year’s end, an 11.7 percent rise on 12 months earlier. These numbers do not account for the huge rise in inmates in the aftermath of Turkey’s failed military coup attempt of July 15.

Most prisoners - 85.4 percent - were serving sentences, while the remainder were in custody awaiting trial.      

Women made up just 3.7 percent of the prison population.      

The report said the population had increased steadily from 172 prisoners per 100,000 of Turkey’s population in 2011 to 225 per 100,000 by 2015.      

TÜİK’s figures showed that most convicts - 17.8 percent - were in jail for theft, while 14.1 percent had been convicted of assault. Nearly 5 percent were convicted of murder.      

According to Justice Ministry data obtained by Anadolu Agency in the summer, there were 213,499 prisoners in jail on Aug. 16. At that time, the ministry had announced plans to release up to 38,000 prisoners to clear space for the tens of thousands arrested over alleged involvement in the failed coup attempt.