PACE Calls on Turkey, Spain to ‘Release Political Prisoners as Well’

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Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe (PACE) Rapporteur Boriss Cilevics has made a call to Turkey and Spain to apply such measures as early release and non-custodial sanctions to political prisoners as well "in the face of the threat posed by the spread of the coronavirus in prisons."

Cilevics has made the following statement:

"I welcome the measures taken in many countries to release from prison non-violent prisoners who do not pose a threat to society or to apply non-custodial sanctions to them. This is the right thing to do in the face of the threat posed by the spread of the Coronavirus in prisons.

"Prisoners with political backgrounds, such as the Catalan politicians convicted for their role in the unconstitutional referendum in October 2017, or the Turkish parliamentarians, mayors and other politicians imprisoned for speeches made in the exercise of their mandate, should certainly benefit from such measures.

"Having personally met the Catalan colleagues during my fact-finding visit to Spain last February, I am fully convinced that these women and men pose no threat to anyone. The very fact of their detention causes concern, but the COVID-19 crisis should definitely prompt their release. The same is true for the imprisoned Turkish opposition politicians, journalists and civil society actors."

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(EKN/SD)