XIX. YÜZYILIN SONLARI-XX. YÜZYIL BAŞLARINDA RİZE HAPİSHANESİ’NİN GENEL DURUMU

The Ottoman State changed its attitude towards crime and methods of punishment due to legal arrangements made after the Edict of Gülhane. In this context, mahbes, which had been the places the criminals were put until their punishments were determined, were converted to prisons and new prisons were built and a modern penal system was organised. The most concrete step taken in this matter was “Tevkifhane ve Hapishaneler Nizamnâmesi” which was issued in 1880. This regulation stated that new prisons were to be built in every province, sanjak, district, and women's prisons in districts. With all of these activities, new historical source material such as “sual ve izahat varakaları”, which gave information on physical conditions of prisons, and “hapishane istatistikleri” (prison statistics), which gave information on convicts and prisoners, appeared. The purpose of this study is to reveal information on physical conditions and sanitary conditions of prisons, prison workers and their wages, safety and security in prisons in the light of archival documents on the Rize Prison from the Ottoman archives and archival documents from Dâhiliye Nezâreti. In addition to these, information on convicts and prisoners is evaluated and general status of the Rize Prison in comparison with other prisons in Trabzon province is explained. In this context, general status of the Rize Prison is examined by evaluating studies done on the Ottoman prisons and archival records on the Rize Prison.