Death row convicts can't be kept in condemned cells until pleas disposed of: HC
Death row prisoners cannot be kept in solitary confinement before their appeals, review and mercy petitions are disposed of, ruled the High Court yesterday.
It ordered the jail authorities to move such convicts from condemned cells to ordinary cells within the next two years.
The bench of Justice Sheikh Hassan Arif and Justice Md Bazlur Rahman delivered the verdict following a petition jointly filed by three death row convicts.
The HC, on April 5, 2022, issued a rule asking the government to explain why regulation 980 of Bangladesh Jail Code, which says such convicts must be kept in condemned cells, should not be declared unconstitutional.
A total of 1,987 death row convicts, including 1,933 males and 54 females, were in condemned cells at prisons across the country till September 20, 2021, said the petitioners' lawyer Mohammad Shishir Manir, citing a statement by inspector general of prison's office.
These convicts are living in inhumane conditions which is contradictory to article 35(5) of the constitution, the lawyer added.
On December 12 last year, the IG of prisons submitted a report to the apex court, saying death row convicts are lawfully kept in the condemned cells due to security reasons.
Attorney General AM Amin Uddin and Deputy Attorney General Amit Talukder represented the state during the hearing on the petition.
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