The Parliamentary Plan and Budget Committee will begin to discuss the 2022 Central Government Budget Bill in Turkey. It has been revealed that the majority of the budget allocated to the Ministry of Justice in the bill will be allocated to new prisons. The Ministry opened 68 prisons instead of the 39 prisons it targeted for 2021, while it is planning 18 new prisons for 2022, Yeni Ozgur Politika reports.
The sub-programmes carried out under the Ministry of Justice included 2021 data for prisons, the number of prosecutors per capita, the number of judges, probation, the square metre per person in prisons, and 2022 targets.
Within the scope of the “Ensuring the effective functioning of the justice system” programme in the budget sub-programme of the Ministry of Justice, 650,000 files were expected to be processed by the Forensic Medicine Institute in 2021, while 670,000 files were processed. In the 2022 target, it aims to process 730,000 files.
The Ministry of Justice’s target was 39 for the opening of new penal institutions in 2021. However, the Ministry exceeded the targeted number and confirmed that 68 prisons were opened. The target for 2022 was determined to be 18 new prisons.
Data was also provided on the number of probation files. While it was stated that 500,000 people were subjected to probation in 2021, the target for 2022 is set at 600,000 people. While the number of children on probation was 12,000 in 2021, this number is projected to be13,500 children for 2022.
The number of people expected to be subject to the electronic monitoring system was determined as 2,000 for 2022.
Complaints about wards being overcrowded, which is frequently a concern that is raised on the public agenda regarding prisons, were reflected in the ministry data findings. However, the complaints of the prisoners did not alter anything. It was stated that there was 30.9 square metres per convict and detainee in 2021. By 2022, it is aimed to reduce this to 28.2 square metres.
The sum allocated to the Ministry of Justice of Turkey in 2022 is over 33 billion – 33,323,466,000 – TL. In addition, 40 small vehicles, 31 minibusses for 17 people, 16 panels and 22 buses for 40 people will be purchased for the Ministry of Justice.
Mezopotamya News Agency reported that of the 3 billion, 890 million TL budget allocated for the presidency, 64 million TL was allocated for the representation and promotional expenses of the Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, who previously stated that “reputation is very important, there is no saving on reputation.”
The People’s Democratic Party’s (HDP’s) Economy Commission issued a statement on 20 October, before the budget talks in Parliament. HDP Deputies marched with banners in their hands in the garden of the Turkish Assembly and chanted, “Budget for the people, not for the pro-government.”
Garo Paylan, Co-Chair of the HDP Economy Commission, said, “I regret to say that there are no demands of the people in this budget. This is the budget of the Palace, the war and the pro-government [groups].”
The HDP Economy Commission also petitioned the Parliament Presidency and the Plan Budget Commission and demanded that the 2022 budget negotiations be opened to the public.
