Who Will and Who Won’t Be Reprieved
Certain people will definitely not benefit from the bill by virtue of the date their crimes were committed or because the Constitution forbids any form of amnesty being granted to such crimes. For example, the terrorist Cevat Soysal, accused of trying to wrest Turkish territory away from the administration and control of the government, will still face trial at Ankara State Security Court (DGM).
Others who will not benefit from the reprieve include the suspects in the Operation Hope case accused of assassinating prominent left-wing intellectuals and politicians; Hizbullah, a religious fundamentalist terrorist; Fethullah Gülen, leader of the Gülenist and Nurist religious sect currently in exile in the United States and Virtue Party (FP) Deputy Merve KavakçI on trial for giving a falso address during her divorce case.
Another 19 officials accused of "abuse of office" and of being "armchair judges" such as former Parliament Speaker Mustafa Kalemli will not be reprieved nor will former National Intelligence Organization (MIT) agent Mehmet Eymur, who is allegedly using his Web site in the United States to disclose state secrets. Former Ankara Chief of Police Osman Ak, accused of illegal telephone tapping will not be pardoned. Other police officials such as Ibrahim Şahin of the police Special operations Unit and accused of "losing weapons" will also stay in jail.
Those who will be reprieved
Among those that will be reprieved are People's democracy Party (HADEP) members accused of aiding and abetting a terrorist organization including former leader Murat Bozlak. Former leader of the Rebirth Party (YDP) Hasan Celal Güzel will see his one-year prison sentence for "inciting hatred by drawing attention to differences in faith" postponed. A further members of Türk Telekom board of directors, tried for "neglect of duty" over the purchase of a generator will benefit from the bill.
Not Unconstitutional
The bill may yet be overturned by the Constitutional Court for contravening the principle of equality, just as happened to the 1974 amnesty and the 1991 conditional release bills. Professor Doğan Soyaslan of Başkent University maintained the bill was unconstitutional and that certain crimes were omitted from its scope because of political and not legal reason. He said that even if the bill is passed by Parliament, the court could overturn it and demand its scope be broadened. Professor Sulhi Dönmezer retaliated by saying there is nothing unconstitutional about the reprieve bill. Meanwhile the Constitutional Commission voted in favour of the bill (14 votes to six).
Virtue Party (FP) leader Recai Kutan said his party was regarding the bill in a positive light but mentioned they had some reservations, one of them being that Article 240 of the Turkish Penal Code (TCK), which is of direct relevance to local governments, is not covered by the bill. He did say that he expected the bill to be legislated with a parliamentary majority. On the subject to Necmettin Erbakan, the former leader of the Welfare Party (RP) and generally held to be the FP's mentor, who is now facing a prison sentence for a speech made in 1994, Kutan reiterated that they were not supporting the amnesty bill solely to prevent Erbakan from going to jail.
Speaking to deputies, Justice Minister Hikmet Sami Türk responded to concerns that the Constitutional Court scope, that the constitutional Court may demand the bill be broadened in scope, which could lead to Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK) leader Abdullah Öcalan being released, He said that going on previous experience with the court, this scenario was not possible.
Another issue of contention is whether or not to reprieve those who have made the headline news due to bank robberies. Türk said that while releasing them on the condition they make good the banks' losses was pragmatic such an idea was included in the bill.
Türk met with deputies from the coalition parties at the office of Nationalist Movement Party (MHP) group deputy leader Ismail Köse, After an hour-long discussion, Türk emerged and spoke to journalists saying that some MHP deputies had proposed changes to the bill and that these had been discussed in detail. When asked had been discussed in detail. When asked if the problem of last minute changes had been resolved, Türk said, "There is no problem. The bill goes ahead as written." 2000-08-12 00:00:00
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