The presence of such prisoners who neither faced trial nor got released, despite spending many years in jail, is something that drew the attention of the press in the past also. The law minister himself addressed the issue and assured us of speedy disposal of such cases. That is indeed necessary to avoid punishing people without trial for such a long time. But the law minister's words do not seem to have changed things appreciably when it comes to a great number of under-trial prisoners languishing in jail.

The Star report on the issue gives a picture of Dhaka Jail only. But if example is anything to go by , matters are unlikely to be different in other prisons. The saddest part of the story is that many minors, abandoned by their parents and having no way to seek legal aid , are facing the ordeal with other prisoners of the failed system of justice.

The trial of such cases failed to proceed because the prosecution could not produce witnesses for deposition. And in one case the failure was repeated as many as 78 times! The figure is unusually high, and it is not at all clear why the law could do nothing to accelerate the pace of the trial. The only thing it did was to make sure that the case remained alive .

Now, what compensation the detained fellows will get for losing so many years in jail without facing trial? There are few advocates of people facing criminal charges , but we still cannot forget that an accused does not shed his/her basic rights at the jail-gate. Any violation of their rights is tantamount to violation of the rights of other citizens.

The government should immediately address the issue and make sure that the prisoners who have been detained without trial for years are at least granted bail. The High Court can also take up the cases suo moto in order to put an end to a gross violation of the rights of prisoners.