The release of at least 73 foreign nationals – who are now in various jails in the country – are being delayed because the authorities are waiting to verify their local address and nationality through the relevant embassies.
Seeking anonymity, an official from the office of the Inspector General of Prisons (IG Prisons) told the Dhaka Tribune yesterday: “Every foreigner charged with a criminal offence in Bangladesh has to register a local address with whichever jails they are being taken to.”
A charge of criminal offence brought against any foreign national also means that they have become eligible for deportation. In such cases, prison authorities seek verification of his local address and nationality from their embassies, the official said.
“Unless the embassies verify the credentials and give clearance, the jail authorities would not release them. If the relevant embassy takes five years for this, the foreign national would have to stay in jail for that period,” the official said.
“This is done in order to make sure that the foreign national with criminal charges do not commit another crime after being released,” he explained.
The matter of delaying the release of foreign nationals was raised by IG Prisons Brig Gen Sayed Iftekhar Uddin during a press conference arranged in his Nazimuddin Road office in Old Dhaka.
It was organised to brief the media about the jail authorities’ preparation in the wake of the murders of two foreign nationals in the last two weeks.
The Dhaka Tribune correspondent talked to the official from the IG Prisons’ Office in order to get a clarification on what the jail authorities’ boss said in the briefing.
Explaining why it sometimes takes time to release the foreign national inmates, the IG prisons said: “Many foreign nationals give false address during registration as prisoners. When time of their release comes, we send the information given by them to relevant ministries for verification. We release them only after verification.”
He also told reporters that the jail authorities have taken all measures to ensure security of the foreign nationals in jail and assured that all of them are now safe.
“Their lifestyle and culture are different from Bangladeshi prisoners. So we have kept them in separate cells, detached from regular prisoners.”
At present, there are a total of 514 foreign nationals in the 68 jails across the country. Of them, 73 are awaiting release. Of these 73 foreign nationals, 55 are Indians, 14 are from Myanmar, two Nepalese and two Pakistanis.
Mobile phone use in jail
Asked about the use of mobile phones inside jail by inmates, Brig Gen Iftekhar said: “It is true that sometimes inmates use mobile phones. But the number is not as high as is portrayed by the media.”
There are mobile phone frequency jammers inside the jails which are set at certain frequencies. When these jammers work, sometimes people who live in the vicinity of the jail compounds complain to mobile operators about network problems and the operators change the frequencies. When this happens, the jammers inside the jails become ineffective again, the IG-Prisons explained.
“We have had discussions on this issue with the Bangladesh Telecom Regulatory Commission (BTRC) several times but no solutions have come out.”
He also said that against the current capacity of 34,681, the 68 jails in the country are housing more than 71,000 inmates. Around 70% of them are currently undergoing trial in various courts. “When these prisoners [whose cases are going in various courts] go outside to attend hearings, the most mobile phone usage happens.”
