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Bangladesh freeing 1,000 inmates to ease crowding
In the largest mass release in Bangladesh's history, authorities have started freeing 1,000 inmates to ease crowding in the country's prisons.
In the largest mass release in Bangladesh's history, authorities have started freeing 1,000 inmates to ease crowding in the country's prisons.
Dozens of inmates were released from jails across the country on Friday. On Thursday, 207 prisoners were freed from Dhaka and suburban Kashimpur central jails.
"The process is underway to release the inmates who already served at least 20 years in jails to ease pressures on the country's crammed jails," a Home Ministry spokesman told PTI.
The inmates were being freed from 68 jails. Most of the inmates were convicted on charges like murders.
The official said Bangladesh's 67 prisons currently accommodate three times their capacity, with 77,000 prisoners in facilities designed for a maximum of 28,000 people.
"The prisoners who are elderly or have showed good conducts were granted amnesty under the prison code," Inspector General of Prisons Brigadier Mohammad Ashraful Islam Khan said.
Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina at a meeting with the jail authorities in May this year had ordered release of 1,000 prisoners.
