At Least 20K Convicted of “Armed Organization” in 4 Years

Turkish Penal Code Article 314 issues for crimes regarding “armed organizations” in Turkey. According to a statement by Justice Minister Ergün, 66,126 individuals faced prosecutor investigation within Turkish Penal Code (TCK) Article 314 with 32,279 prosecuted and 20,265 convicted to a sentence in the past four years.

The statement dates back to an official inquiry by BDP Iğdır deputy regarding the number of those who either faced prosecutor investigation, prosecution or conviction. 

Some of the highlights from the 2009-2012 period included: 

* Prosecutor investigations originating from TCK 314 doubled from 2009 to 2012. 

* 40 percent who faced prosecution were ordered to stand trial. 

* Between 2009 and 2012, 53 percent of 38,135 prosecuted were convicted and only 17 percent were acquitted. The remaining cases were either dropped, unified or withdrawn from verdict.   

* 340 defendants were convicted of being a leader of an “armed organization” between 2009 and 2012. 

* Between 2009 and 2012,  32,279 were prosecuted. 

*Prosecutions originating from TCK 314 rose by 57.5 percent from 2009 to 2012.  (ÇT/BM)

TCK ARTICLE 314 [translated by bianet English]

(1) Those who either found or lead an armed organization in order to commit the crimes specified in section 4 and 5 in this chapter are sentenced from 10 to 15 years of prison. 

(2) Those who become a member of organization defined in section 1 are sentenced from 5 to 10 years of prison. 

(3) All other judgments related to founding an organization are applied within the angle of this. 

* Click here to read the original article in Turkish.