Wednesday, March 28, 2007

Sezer pardoned 260 convicts over 7 years

"Sezer pardoned 260 convicts over 7 years
President Ahmet Necdet Sezer has approved resolutions which pardoned 260 out of 270 convicts referred to him between when he took office on May 16, 2000 and March 23, 2007.

The majority of the convicts were those who had entered Wernicke-Korsakoff syndrome -- a physical and mental disorder caused by severe malnutrition-- following long-term hunger strikes at prisons. Former Presidents Kenan Evren and Süleyman Demirel had pardoned 27 convicts and 100 convicts respectively. Turgut Özal, another former president, pardoned 21 convicts during his four-year term in office."

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