Türkiye mulls trying 17-year-old murder suspects as adults

ANKARA

The Justice Ministry is working a bill that would allow for 17-year-olds who commit murder to be tried as adults amid debates over the prosecution of minors in Türkiye, daily Hürriyet has reported.

The debate was ignited by the fatal stabbing of Turkish-Italian teenager Mattia Ahmet Minguzzi by two peers in January in Istanbul. The suspects, both minors, face a maximum sentence of 24 years under current Turkish law, which prohibits life imprisonment for individuals under 18 due to mandatory sentence reductions based on age.

In the aftermath, many called for minors who commit grave crimes such as murder to be prosecuted as adults.

“International law stipulates that children under the age of 12 cannot be punished. Under current provisions, there are sentence reductions for crimes committed by those aged 12–15 and 15–18. The new regulation is designed to reduce the scope of such reductions as age increases,” Justice Minister Yılmaz Tunç was quoted as saying by daily Hürriyet.

For the offense of “intentional killing” committed by children aged 16 or older, no sentence reduction will be applied at the judge’s discretion, Tunç said.

The Child Protection Law envisions five key measures to safeguard children in need of protection, whether they are victims or offenders: Counseling, education, health care, protective oversight and shelter.

A new proposal foresees disciplinary imprisonment for parents, guardians or caretakers who fail to comply with protective and supportive court orders concerning children. Lawmakers are also weighing criminal penalties for public officials who neglect or delay the implementation or coordination of such measures.

Under the current system, if the crime committed by an individual aged between 15 and 18 requires an aggravated life sentence, it is converted into 18 to 24 years of imprisonment; if it requires life imprisonment, it is reduced to 12 to 15 years. Other penalties are reduced by one-third and no single prison term can exceed 12 years.