Turkey’s Constitutional Court has rejected an appeal from the main opposition party to abrogate a coronavirus release law that allowed some 90,000 inmates to be released due to the pandemic while excluding political prisoners, the Turkish Minute news website reported, citing the Diken news website.
The Republican People’s Party (CHP) brought the law to the top court immediately after it went into effect, arguing that it violated the constitutional right of equality among citizens.
The government excluded prisoners who were charged with terrorism, an arbitrarily and widely used charge in Turkey, especially lately for dissidents, including judges, prosecutors, journalists, lawyers and artists.