Turkey begins to release amnesty prisoners

The authorities in Turkey have begun releasing hundreds of prisoners -- the first of some thirty-five thousand being freed under a controversial limited amnesty law passed yesterday.

The amnesty, which frees almost half the country's prisoners, but doesn't cover those convicted of offences against the state, has been strongly criticised by crime victims and other groups.

The law is central to the government's plans to reform the overcrowded prison system.

The justice minister, Hikmet Sami Turk, said it would allow the authorities to disperse prisoners currently held in large dormitories, often run by radical groups, into small cells. Opposition to the plan led to a wave of protests in Turkish prisons, which has just ended.

The amnesty was vetoed last week by President Ahmet Necdet Sezer on grounds that it was divisive and unjust.

After being approved by parliament for a second time, the president signed it into law.

From the newsroom of the BBC World Service