Bangladesh's president has pardoned 20 death-row prisoners four years after they were sentenced for the murder of a then-ruling party activist, a prison official said Tuesday.

Ten of the prisoners were freed from the capital Dhaka's central jail, with the rest being released from a jail in northwestern Bangladesh, central jail superintendent Touhidul Islam told AFP.

"We received the presidential clemency order last night," he said.

A fast-track court, which deals only with serious crime, sentenced the 20 to death in 2006 for the murder of then-ruling Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP) student activist Sabbir Ahmed in northwestern district town of Natore.

Sabbir was also a nephew of a junior BNP minister.

According to the local media reports, all 20 men were active members of then-main opposition Awami League party. The Awami League has always maintained that the case was politically motivated and the men innocent of all charges.

Led by the current premier Sheikh Hasina, the Awami League swept to power following a landslide victory in December 2008 elections. It installed a party veteran as the country's president.

The position of president in Bangladesh is largely ceremonial, but has the power to grant clemency on all death sentences.

Earlier this year, the president used his limited power to quash graft cases against Awami League officials, including one against the son of its deputy party chief.

(Source: AFP)