Several activists of the main opposition Bangladesh Nationalist Party lie on the Supreme Court premises as leaders and activists of both the ruling Awami League and the BNP crowd the High Court seeking pre-arrest bail on Wednesday. — Md Saurav
Hundreds of people, mostly leaders and activists of the main opposition Bangladesh Nationalist Party, on Wednesday flocked to the High Court seeking pre-arrest bail in cases relating to violence before and after the January 7 parliament election.
Lawyers told New Age that the bail seekers also include many ruling Awami League leaders and activists who were made accused in cases of election-related violence between AL candidates and the party’s ‘dummy’ candidates, who contested the election as independents.
The Awami League allowed the ‘dummy’ candidates to give the election a competitive look as the BNP and some other key opposition parties boycotted the January 7 election, showing no confidence in the election commission and the ruling party.
At least 14 people have been killed and over 500 injured in factional clashes between the ruling Awami League-nominated candidates and its dummies since mid-November across the country, according to New Age correspondents.
BNP said that a total of 27,507 leaders and activists of the party had been arrested, and 10,5467 were accused in 1,182 cases filed between July 28, 2023, and January 21, 2024.
A total of 30 people, mostly BNP supporters, were killed during the period.
Pro-BNP lawyers said that the lower courts started granting bail to detained BNP leaders in selective cases after the January 7 election.
The bail seekers flocked to the bench of Justice Md Nazrul Islam Talukder and Justice Kazi Ebadoth Hossain, the lone bench entertaining bail prayers in the ‘political cases,’ the lawyers said.
Lawyers faced various problems enlisting petitions for pre-arrest bail, popularly known as anticipatory bail, on the cause list for hearing, as the bench hears such cases only on Monday and Tuesday.
Lawyers said that due to huge pressure, the bench also heard such cases on Wednesday and disposed of 280 out of some 380 petitions, mostly seeking pre-arrest bail.
Several hundred leaders and activists of the AL and BNP got anticipatory bail in the cases. Lawyers said that most petitions involved at least five people.
The court turned down lawyers’ requests to complete the hearing of all petitions listed for the day due to huge pressure, with many bail seekers waiting in and outside the courtroom.
Some senior members of the Supreme Court Bar Association also broke the serial to get the cases of their clients heard by the court.
Lawyer Kazi Akhtar Hossain, who filed anticipatory bail prayers on behalf of 64 leaders and activists of the Bhola unit of BNP, told New Age on Wednesday that the bench could not hear the petition of his clients as the matter was listed at the bottom of the cause list.
Akhter said that the police made Bhola BNP people accused in pre-election violence cases in a wholesale manner, irrespective of their posts and positions.
He said that the BNP leaders started coming to the High Court seeking anticipatory bail after remaining in hiding and managing the police as the court refrained from entertaining bail prayers before the January 7 election.
Kamal Hossain, a Dhaka rickshaw-puller who was guarding the luggage of the bail seekers of Bhola BNP men, told New Age that his two younger brothers were made accused in the election-related violence cases, though they had no role in the alleged crimes.
Daudpur union parishad chairman of Rupganj, Nurul Islam Jahangir, a local Awami League leader, and 20 other of his followers were granted anticipatory bail on Wednesday in a case relating to alleged vandalism in the union after the January 7 election.
The accused AL leaders’ lawyer, Khan Mohammad Shameem Aziz, told New Age that the case was filed against the followers of Rupganj AL general secretary Md Shahjahan Bhuiyan following an intra-party conflict.
Shahjahan contested the January 7 election against ruling AL candidate Golam Dastagir Gazi, then a minister and incumbent lawmaker.
Shameem said that the Supreme Court Bar Association’s president, Md Momtazuddin Fakir, moved the AL leaders’ bail prayers, which were enlisted as 367 items on the cause list.
New Age