Qatar emir frees 24 Bangladeshi prisoners

Qatar Emir Sheikh Tamim Bin Hamad Al Thani has pardoned 24 Bangladeshi prisoners as part of a Ramadan tradition. The Embassy of Bangladesh in Qatar confirmed the matter on Saturday. Embassy sources said they would arrange for repatriating the released prisoners to Bangladesh after completing the legal procedures as soon as possible. Among the 24 prisoners, 10 were serving different terms after being convicted in narcotics, transport and different business cases, 10 in theft, corruption, document and cheque fraud charges, two detained over extramarital sexual relations, one for living in Qatar without valid documents and the another for adultery. The embassy's labour counsellor, Dr Sirajul Islam, said: "The Qatari emir pardons prisoners in Ramadan every year and the 24 Bangladeshi prisoners along with other local and foreign prisoners were freed in line with that tradition. "There are 400,000 Bangladeshis currently living here," he added.