After the death of his wife and child, Bagerhat District Commissioner (DC) Golam Md. Bagerhat Deputy Commissioner (DC) for parole release of Bagerhat Chhatra League (banned) president Jewel Hasan Saddam. His relatives took an application to Baten. But the District Commissioner did not accept the application and advised them to go to Jessore. But Jessore jail authorities agreed to show the body at the jail gate.
The frozen bodies of Saddam’s wife Kaniz Subarna alias Swarnali (22) and her 9-month-old son Sejad Hasan (Nazif) were taken outside the Jessore prison on Friday for a final viewing. There was less than five minutes of viewing time for Saddam.
Talking about that time, Saddam’s brother Shahidul Islam said, ‘My brother could not hold the child. In this regret, yesterday said, “I could not hold my child while alive, what will I do with him after death?” He put his hand on the child’s head and said, “I couldn’t be a good father, I couldn’t be a good husband. Forgive me.” It was my brother’s last words.’
A letter said to be written by Saddam to his wife has gone viral on Facebook after the news of the death of his wife and children. In that letter, there is regret for not being able to hold the child. Despite the death of his wife and children, discussions and criticism are going on everywhere, including on social media, about Saddam not being released from prison on parole. Parole after the death of a relative is a constitutional and international human rights right. The Law and Arbitration Center (ASAC) condemned Saddam’s violation of that right.
ASK chairperson ZI Khan Panna said in a statement that Saddam’s family has made a formal request to the appropriate authorities to attend the funeral and burial of his deceased wife and 9-month-old child. Despite this, ASK considers the incident of only showing Karaft’s body without releasing him on parole a clear violation of the constitution and international human rights law. According to Article 27 of the Constitution of Bangladesh, all citizens are equal under the law and entitled to equal legal protection. Article 31 gives citizens the right to have recourse to law. According to Article 35(5), no person shall be subjected to cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment.
“As an undertrial prisoner, Jewell Hassan Saddam is not deprived of these constitutional protections.” However, the denial of parole and the denial of the opportunity to participate in the funeral and burial, despite the appeals of the family, in the extreme humanitarian circumstances of the death of his wife and infant child, have effectively subjected him to inhuman and degrading treatment; Which is a direct violation of Article 35(5) of the Constitution.
Saddam’s uncle Hemayet Uddin told Ajker newspaper, ‘I applied. The district administration said, “Since Jessore is a jail, we don’t have a chance to release on parole.” Later, I met the jail superintendent of Bagerhat. He said, “We have no chance, you come to Jessore with the dead body.” Later we met in Jessore. Only 4-5 minutes have been given there.’
Hemayet also said, ‘If we were told by the district administration and the prison, apply in Jessore, then we would have applied in Jessore. But no one told us that Jessore can be released on parole if we apply.’
If asked about this, Bagerhat District Commissioner Golam Md. “An application for parole was brought in,” Baten told Today’s newspaper. They have been explained. As he is in Jessore Jail, application should be made to the Deputy Commissioner or Jail Superintendent there (Jesore). But in the case of parole, if he is released, his parole order will be effective only in that district. The administration here also informed the Jessore District Jail about them. Prisoners also spoke to the authorities to see the bodies of their dead relatives in a beautiful, proper way. We assisted them in going there and visiting.’
Supreme Court lawyer and criminal law expert Azizur Rahman Dulu feels that the Bagerhat DC has ‘committed a crime’ by not accepting Saddam’s family’s plea for release on parole. According to him, it was the duty of the Bagerhat DC to dispose of the application. He could have informed the DC of Jessore by email or mobile phone.
He told Ajkar newspaper, ‘The District Magistrate of Bagerhat should have accepted and disposed of the application received from Saddam’s relative. But he committed a crime by not doing that. DC of Bagerhat has violated the Public Service Act, 2018.’
Explaining the reason behind this, this senior lawyer said, ‘Because it is stated in the Public Service Act, if a person applies for receiving any government service, within the prescribed period or in cases where the period is not prescribed, within a reasonable period, the requested service should be provided or a similar application should be settled. If any such application is, for any reasonable reason, rejected or rejected or cannot be supplied or disposed of within the prescribed or reasonable time, the reason thereof shall be intimated to the person seeking service. Any employee willfully contravening the provisions of this section shall constitute misconduct. Here it can be seen that the DC of Bagerhat has committed a crime by not accepting the application.
He said, ‘If there is a problem with jurisdiction, if an application is made to any officer of the same level, he will accept the application and send it to the concerned officer. Since time is short here. Matters like burying the body are involved. In that case the DC of Bagerhat could have accepted and disposed of the application and informed the DC of Jessore. The main issue in this case is where the deceased will be buried. Since the deceased were to be buried at Bagerhat, the petition should have been disposed of by the Bagerhat DC.’
