Much-hyped prisoner release in limbo

The much-hyped release of prisoners is pending for the last two months which was planned amid deep-running fears of a coronavirus outbreak in jails.
According to media reports, Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina has okayed the proposal and ordered the preparation of a guideline for their release.
Prisoners convicted or facing trial on charges like murder and rape will not be released.
Meanwhile, the jail authorities have sent a proposal two and half months ago regarding the matter to the Ministry of Home Affairs along with a list of the inmates.
The proposal was sent as per the Home Ministry's order in light of the coronavirus outbreak.
"We are considering whether those who await trials for bailable offences can be released on bail," according to a prison official.
The Home Ministry has already sent a proposal to the Law Ministry for its opinion.
The prisons across the country were currently housing over 89,000 prisoners where the actual capacity is 41,244 persons.
Mahabub Alam, jailor of Dhaka Central Jail in Keraniganj, told the Daily Observer the jail authorities have not yet received any such letter for the release of prisoners.
Police are taking initiative not to arrest people for certain low-level crimes to avoid the spread of Covid-19 in jails.
Prisons across the country have only one doctor for every 10,000 inmates at the moment, making the implications of a coronavirus outbreak worse if it should occur.
The Department of Prisons has already set-up temporary telephone booths at the prisons across the country.
Home Minister Asaduzzaman Khan said in the last cabinet meeting that the prison authorities have already forwarded a list of 3,000 inmates amid the coronavirus outbreak in the country.
The government is planning to release another 1,413 inmates who were sentenced to life imprisonment and have already served more than 20 years in jail.
The aim of releasing around 5,000 prisoners is to lower the chances of coronavirus transmission in crowded jails, sources said.
The release of many of them stopped after former Chief Justice Surendra Kumar Sinha in a judgment in February said life imprisonment means jail sentence until natural death of the convict.  A review petition against the judgement is still pending.