Justice Minister Sahin: "We have no plans for an amnesty"

Justice Minister Mehmet Ali Sahin said yesterday that the government has no plan to issue an amnesty. Commenting on statistics saying that Turkey's prison population is now the highest it has been in 39 years, Sahin said Turkey had seen many amnesties over the years, and that these may have encouraged people to commit crimes. Sahin added that the number of inmates, which has swelled to over 100,000, should be interpreted in light of social and economic problems.