Turkish prison authorities postponed the release on parole of at least 116 prisoners in the first 10 months of 2026, a lawyers’ association said Tuesday, amid allegations that some decisions were influenced by prisoners’ political beliefs, the pro-Kurdish Mezopotamya news agency reported.
The Lawyers for Freedom Association (ÖHD) said prison Administration and Observation Boards were responsible for the postponements between January and October. The association did not provide a detailed breakdown of the cases or explain whether repeated postponements involving the same prisoner were counted separately.
Under Turkish law, conditional release, similar to parole, allows eligible prisoners who have served a required portion of their sentence and demonstrated good conduct to serve the remainder outside prison, subject to certain conditions. Unlike release after completing a sentence, it can be revoked if those conditions are violated.
ÖHD lawyer Elif Taşdöğen said prison authorities were increasingly considering prisoners’ political views and their willingness to express remorse when deciding whether to approve their release.
She criticized the practice of interpreting prisoners’ refusal to change or renounce their political beliefs as evidence against their release, saying it interfered with freedom of thought and conscience.
“Every assessment must be based on concrete, individualized, objective and verifiable data,” Taşdöğen said.
Prison Administration and Observation Boards assess whether convicted prisoners have demonstrated good conduct as part of the parole process. The criteria include disciplinary records, participation in rehabilitation programs, behavior in prison and expressions of remorse for the offense.
Although remorse is explicitly included among the legal criteria, human rights organizations argue that prison authorities have used the requirement to demand ideological conformity rather than assess prisoners’ conduct.
The Administration and Observation Boards began operating under revised regulations in January 2021 and have since faced criticism from human rights organizations over decisions that allegedly prolong imprisonment beyond prisoners’ initial eligibility dates.
According to figures released by the Human Rights Association (İHD) and the Human Rights Foundation of Turkey (TİHV), at least 549 prisoners had their release postponed between 2021 and the end of 2024. The figures were compiled separately from ÖHD’s latest findings.
The United Nations Committee Against Torture expressed concern in August 2024 about the boards’ lack of institutional independence and allegations that they exercised their powers arbitrarily, particularly in cases involving journalists, human rights defenders and prisoners convicted on politically motivated charges.
The European Commission also raised concerns in its November 4 report on Turkey, saying prison boards continued to influence conditional-release procedures arbitrarily.
