Figures released by Minister of Justice Ergin, the number of convicts and detainees in Turkish prisons as of April 2, 2012 have increased four times since 2000. There were 24.855 convicts and 24.657 detainees in 2000, however now there are 95.652 convicts and 36.408 detainees.
There are 377 prisons in Turkey with a total capacity of 125.117; 22 of them are still under construction. However there are 132.060 convicts and detainees in the prisons which means there are 6.943 excess capacity convicts and detainees.
Ergin who was answering the parliamentary question of Republican People’s Party (CHP) Malatya Parliamentarian Veli Agbaba didn’t talk about the prison conditions of those 7.000 prisoners.
The Ministry of Justice General Directorate of Prisons and Detention Houses also made a statement about the staff number in the prisons. According to his statement, the guardian numbers in the prisons doubled in the recent 12 years. There were 17.750 guardians in 2000; now there are 1087 contracted, 27.538 permanent, 28.625 guardians in the prisons.