Arinc: Ban on defense in mother tongue will be removed

Speaking to press members after a Cabinet meeting on Monday, Deputy Prime Minister Bulent Arinc said that the government would submit a new proposal to Parliament in the upcoming weeks in order to remove a ban on making one's defense statement by using mother tongue. Stating that the problem of defense in one's mother tongue will be solved with an amendment to Article 202 of the Code on Criminal Procedure (CMK), Arinc said, "There will be a small addition to the article. Article 202 includes conditions for when a translator is needed. So far, if a suspect or victim does not know Turkish well enough to describe his or her situation, a translator assigned by the court translates the charges and key points regarding the defense to them. But a small addition to the article will allow individuals from now on to be able to defend themselves in a language they think they can better express themselves in." Arinc added that there was no need to go on a hunger strike to demand the removal of the ban.