AUTHORITIES IN Bangladesh yesterday freed 1,000 prisoners serving life sentences to ease the pressure on overcrowded jails.
Inmates in 67 prisons – including those serving multiple sentences – were told the news on the eve of their release, after government instructions to free long-serving prisoners.
“I was working in the ward when they made an announcement over the microphone and my name was read out,” said Rishikesh (50), a prisoner at Dhaka central jail, who had served 12 years of a 30-year sentence for murder.
“I asked the prison officials again and again if it was true. I couldn’t sleep at night thinking I was going to be out today. My daughter was only two when I went inside – my family don’t even know I’m out. I don’t know what I’m going to do when I get there.”
The move – described by prison officials as the biggest release in Bangladesh’s history – was ordered by the office of the prime minister, Sheikh Hasina, to drive down prisoner numbers.
About 77,000 prisoners are held in Bangladesh in facilities designed for a maximum of 28,000 people. Prison reformers say overcrowding spreads diseases such as TB, and that medical facilities are overstretched.
Inmates who had served 20 years of a life sentence – a 30-year term in Bangladesh – or who had been of good behaviour were freed. Those convicted of terrorist offences or crimes against the state remain behind bars, according to prison sources.
The home secretary, Abdus Sobhan Sikder, said prisoners who had been behind bars for more than 20 years would be freed as reformed characters. He said: “A man who commits an offence, if they’ve been inside for 20 years, this is enough. I can’t say what they’re going to do next – that’s up to them.”