News Desk : dhakamirror.com
The Appellate Division on Wednesday stayed a High Court verdict that asked the jail authorities not to put death sentence inmates in the solidarity confinement before the end of all legal processes.
The Appellate Division judge in chamber, Justice M Enayetur Rahim, granted the stay after hearing an appeal filed by the secretaries of the ministries of home and law, the inspector general of prisons and the inspector general of police, and the superintendents of the Central Jails of Chattogram, Sylhet, and Cumilla challenging the High Court verdict.
The chamber judge also set August 25 for hearing the appeal by its full bench.
Attorney general AM Amin Uddin prayed for staying the High court verdict, stating that the death sentence convicts did not want to stay in isolation cells following the verdict.
The government authorities in the appeal said that confinement of the death sentence convict to an isolated cell was necessary to prevent organised crimes, ensure the safety of other inmates, and prevent diseases.
As the members of criminals are kept in isolation from other inmates for various purposes, such separation of inmates cannot be called ‘torture or cruel, inhumane, or degrading punishment or treatment.’
The appeal said that the fundamental rights of the citizen, which are guaranteed by the constitution, would not apply to the people of death sentence recipients after they were convicted by a court.
The High Court ruled on Monday that no death sentence prisoner could be put in isolated prison cells before the completion of the judicial and administrative processes.
The bench of Justice Sheikh Hassan Arif and Justice Md Bazlur Rahman issued the verdict after disposing of a writ petition filed by three condemned prisoners.
In September 2021, prisoners Zillur Rahman of Chattogram Central Jail, Abdul Basir of Sylhet Central Jail, and Shah Alam of Cumilla Central Jail challenged the legality of keeping them in solidarity confinement before the completion of their trial process, including their appeals.
The High Court explained that the process included the disposal of appeals by the upper courts, the review petition, and the mercy petition to the president.
The High Court, in its verdict, asked the jail authorities to shift all condemned prisoners from isolated cells to general cells in two years.
