Prisons in Turkey - History

History

In the Ottoman Empire prisons were called dungeons (zindan). In Turkey these were mostly dark and damp towers. The first prison was built in Sultanahmet quarter of Istanbul and it was called general prison (Hapishane-i Umumi).

Besides the death penalty the Penal Code of 1858 included three different types of sentences: rowing on a galley (kürek), pillorying (prangabentlik) and imprisonment in a tower (kalebentlik).

The Penal Code of 1 March 1926 (Law 765) made a difference between heavy crimes and corresponding sentences (ağır suç and ağır ceza) and light crimes (hafif suç and hafif ceza). Besides offences (cürüm) there is a separate law on infringements (kabahat). By Law 5349 dated 11 May 2005 the differentiation between light and heavy sentences was lifted.

Read more about this topic:  Prisons In Turkey

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