New reform package on way to Parliament
ANKARA
The reform package has been discussed and approved at a Cabinet meeting, says Justice Minister Sadullah Ergin.
A package of amendments aimed at speeding up the judicial system will be submitted to Parliament within days, Justice Minister Sadullah Ergin said yesterday.“The package was discussed and approved at a Cabinet meeting. Hopefully, we will send it to Parliament within days,” Ergin told reporters.
Under growing pressure over lengthy pre-trial detentions, the government has drawn up amendments to a series of laws in a bid to expedite trials and remove some restrictions on free speech.
The reforms would suspend all probes into offences committed via the media that are punishable with jail terms of up to five years, and the cases would be scrapped for good if the same offense is not re-committed within three years.
A provision that allows for the suspension of publications on grounds of “terror propaganda” would be abolished and confiscation orders for publications would be removed.
If passed, the amendments are also expected to ditch a probe into main opposition leader Kemal Kılıçdaroğlu for criticizing the judiciary.
Under other proposals, Molotov cocktails will be considered weapons, increasing the penalties for using them, and prosecutors will be enabled to search army facilities without permission from military authorities.
