A possible amnesty bill should be in accordance with the society's conscience, President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan said yesterday.
"We need to write the amnesty bill in such a way that it will not free people who caused pain in our nation's conscience," said Erdoğan during his speech during a senior judicial event in capital Ankara, adding that the Justice Ministry is still working on the bill.
Erdoğan said it is a fact that there are some points in current laws that make people uncomfortable and with the recent amnesty discussions, this stress over the laws has increased.
"That is why I asked our friends not to deal with the debates on amnesty but to focus on making sure both its content and application are in accordance with the conscience of society," said Erdoğan, indicating that society has expectations about this bill, and the executive body is required to meet these expectations.
The president further added that senior judges and prosecutors will contribute to the bill with their experience in higher judicial bodies, while academicians will contribute to its theoretical aspects.
In a bill submitted last month, the Nationalist Movement Party (MHP) proposed a one-off conditional five-year sentence reduction for certain types of crimes committed before May 19, 2018.
Meanwhile, Erdoğan also discussed the issue with MHP Chairman Devlet Bahçeli yesterday during a 40-minute meeting.
"From amnesty issues to child abuse, when it covers topics ranging as wide as this, our primary guide should be our conscience," Erdoğan said on the
matter on Oct. 6. He added that although Parliament has passed a number of amnesty bills in the past, they were mainly used for political benefits.
"We cannot act the same way," the president said, adding that, "If we are going to do anything, we should do so only after extensive research." Erdoğan also underlined that the pretext given for the bill, such as the jails being full, is no reason to allow nationwide amnesty.
Previously, on Sept. 22, Erdoğan said: "If the crimes were committed against the state, the state can be entitled to pardon the crime. Yet, if the crime was committed against individuals, the state has no authority to pardon the convicted inmate. Only those harmed by these crimes can pardon the perpetrators."
