Over 266,000 people convicted, put behind bars in Turkey in 2018: Official data

Duvar English

A total of 266,889 people were convicted and put behind bars in Turkey during the period of Jan. 1 – Dec. 31, 2018, according to data released by the Turkish Statistical Institute (TÜİK) on Dec. 5. Some 96.2 percent of this figure were men, according to the data.

Again, during the same period, 215,170 convicts left the prisons after completing their time of incarceration, and 96.1 percent of this figure were men.

Number of people in prisons up by 14 percent in 2018

As for the total number of people behind bars in Turkey, this figure reached 264,842 by the end of 2018. This marked an increase of 14 percent compared to the previous year. Of this figure, 78.9 percent consisted of people whose trial processes were finalized and were convicted of their charges; whereas the rest of the 21.1 percent consisted of people who were jailed pending trials. Some 96.1 percent of the convicts were men and 3.9 percent were women, as of the 2018-end figures.

While the number of people jailed per 100,000 population was 188 in 2013, this figure rose to 288 in 2017 and 323 in 2018, continuously increasing every year, TÜİK said.

TÜİK also included data on child convicts. The institute gave two different figures regarding child convicts, the first based on the number convicts who were in the 12-17 age range when they entered the prison, while the second based on the number of convicts who were in this age range when they committed the relevant crime. Using the first method, the number of “child convicts” turned out to be 2,095 as of the end of 2018, marking an increase of 1.9 percent compared to the previous year; using the second method, on the other hand, it turned out to be 14,502, marking an increase of 22.8 percent, TÜİK said.

Theft is the most committed crime

In the case of convicts jailed for committing more than one crime, one of the crimes that resulted in the most severe punishment was taken as the main crime committed. When the figures were analyzed within this context, 17 percent of the convicts jailed in 2018 committed theft, 12.4 percent of them committed assault, 6.7 percent of them produced and sold drugs, 5.8 percent of them breached the Bankruptcy and Enforcement Law and 3.5 percent of them committed murder.

The data also looked at the convicts' education levels. Of the convicts jailed in 2018 for committing theft, 47.3 percent of them were primary school (includes grades 1-8) graduates, 15.1 percent of them were middle school (includes grades 5-8) graduates and 13.5 percent of them were elementary school (includes grades 1-5) graduates.

As for the convicts jailed in 2018 for committing assault, 37.5 percent of them were primary school graduates, 23.4 percent of them were high school graduates and 17 percent of them were elementary school graduates.

For the convicts jailed during the same period for committing murder, 29.9 percent of them were primary school graduates, 27.6 percent of them were high school graduates and 17.2 percent of them were elementary school graduates.

For the convicts jailed for sexual abuse crimes, 37.7 percent of them were primary school graduates, 20.6 percent of them were high school graduates and 17.2 percent of them were elementary school graduates.