Drug dealers waltz out of courts

Drug dealing is serious business. Unfortunately, six out of 10 accused in drug-related cases got off scot-free in the first nine months of 2017. Obviously things are not right. The narcotics officials are saying that this ease of getting acquittals is actually encouraging first-time offenders to take up the profession more seriously, which is hardly helpful for law enforcers or society. The lack of professionalism whilst drafting cases against criminals and the lack of witnesses against the accused are other factors that lead to suspects getting acquitted.

The number of acquittals has hovered from 50 to 60 percent over a three-year period. The whole process of drawing up a charge sheet is, unfortunately, full of holes. The police apparently focus more on possession of certain types of drugs which, in the general absence of witnesses, opens up the whole question of credibility of the case. The lack of use of forensic testing in charge sheets is one of the basic mistakes that end up making cases flimsy that defence lawyers can utilise to blow apart cases against the accused in a court of law.

We cannot overlook the fact that in Bangladesh, there are people in the law enforcement agencies who have been accused of taking bribes to weaken cases that go to the court system. All these issues that have not been addressed are serious systemic faults that are contributing to first-time and repeat offenders to get away with impunity. The fight against drugs is an uphill struggle in every country and Bangladesh is no exception. The least we could do is to try and make it a little more difficult for criminals to skirt the legal system.