The government will provide legal assistance to Nigerian national Jim Ayar, 40, who was arrested here in July this year, as he has no money to engage lawyers.

Ayar was arrested on charges of earning money through deception and illegally entering the country. He is currently languishing in a Natore jail.

With this decision, jailed foreigners who cannot afford to engage lawyers will now get legal assistance from the government.

Earlier, the government used to provide legal aid only to the country’s poor who could not afford to appoint lawyers, but now all poor foreigners too would be entitled to legal assistance.

National Legal Aid Services Organisation (NLASO) director Aminul Islam said foreign nationals who committed crimes in Bangladesh were tried under the law of the land.

So, the government has decided to arrange legal aid to them, he added.

As per the law, the court cannot sentence any offender without giving them the legal opportunity to defend themselves.

From now on, foreign prisoners would be able to submit their arguments before the court through their lawyers. It would prevent them from claiming that they had been tried without any opportunity to defend themselves, Aminul Islam, who is also a senior district judge, explained.

“We'll give legal assistance to Jim Ayar. We'll send a circular to the prison authorities so that all foreign prisoners can get legal assistance during their trial proceedings,” he added.

According to sources, a total of 495 foreign prisoners are currently languishing in various jails across the country, including the Keraniganj central jail, on various criminal charges filed against them. The cases have been filed for various offences like bringing drugs, committing fraud, circulating fake notes, illegally entering the country, and involvement in ATM booth fraud.

Among the prisoners, 274 are Myanmar nationals, 149 Indian, 27 Pakistani, seven Malaysian, and four are from Cameroon. A total of 57 foreign prisoners have already been convicted after completion of their trial proceedings.

The government took the decision to provide legal assistance to Nigerian national Jim Ayar after the Natore jail authorities sent a letter to the Natore district legal aid office seeking an explanation on whether he was entitled to get legal help.

The authorities of the Natore district legal aid office forwarded the letter to the head office of the NLASO. After getting the letter, NLASO director Aminul Islam discussed the matter with law minister Anisul Huq and decided to provide legal assistance to Jim Ayar, thereby paving the way for other prisoners to get legal assistance.

Human rights activists welcomed the government decision, saying that it would help poor foreign prisoners submit their arguments before the courts. Advocate ZI Khan Panna, chairman of Ain O Salish Kendra (ASK) and member of the Bangladesh Legal Aid Services Trust (BLAST), praised the decision, saying it would ensure transparent trials for all prisoners.