The conviction of leaders and activists of the main opposition Bangladesh Nationalist Party, key organisers, lawyers, and professionals loyal to the party has increased in recent weeks ahead of the nationalist election scheduled for January 7.
At least 247 political leaders and activists were awarded jail terms by different courts in Dhaka and elsewhere in the country between October 29 and November 20, 184 of them, including possible candidates, since the announcement of the election schedule on November 15.
Most of the cases that ended in the conviction of opposition people were filed by the police or supporters of the ruling Awami League between 2013 and 2018.
BNP termed the cases filed mostly under the Special Powers Act, the Explosive Substances Act, and the Penal Code, among others as ‘politically motivated.’
On Sunday, Mohammad Sheikh Sadi, a metropolitan magistrate in Dhaka, awarded 62 opposition leaders and activists, including Khandaker Akhter Hamid Khan, three years and a half imprisonment in a case filed at Bangshal police station in 2018.
Hamid is the son of former BNP secretary general Khandaker Delwar Hossain.
‘Only five out of 33 prosecution witnesses testified in the case,’ said Syed Zaynul Abedin Mesbah, a defence lawyer.
On Monday, 54 opposition leaders and activists were awarded jail sentences for different terms in Dhaka and Rangpur.
BNP leaders said that the number of convictions for party activists would be higher as they could not receive all the data due to the police crackdown following their foiled grand rally in Dhaka on October 28 and the denial of access to the party office.
Dhaka Metropolitan Magistrate Ataullah jailed BNP joint secretary general Habib-un-Nabi Khan Sohail, Jatiyatabadi Jubo Dal president Sultan Salauddin Tuku, and 12 others for two years in a case filed with the Paltan police station in 2017 on charges of obstructing police from performing their duties and clashing with them.
In addition to the prison sentence, the court also ordered a fine of Tk 5,000 for each of the convicts or an additional month in jail in default.
The convicts in this case include BNP information and research secretary Azizul Bari Helal, former Jubo Dal president Saiful Alam Nirab, Swechchasebak Dal secretary Rajib Ahsan, Jatiyatabadi Chhatra Dal leaders Akramul Hasan Mintu, Habibur Rashid Habib, and Juba Dal south unit president Enamul Haque Enam.
Of them, Nirab contested the parliamentary election in 2018 against the current home minister, Asaduzzaman Khan, for the Dhaka-12 constituency.
The magistrate court acquitted 12 people, including Juba Dal organising secretary Ishaque Sarkar.
Another metropolitan magistrate, Sheikh Sadi, sentenced former Jubo Dal president Nirob and six others to two and a half years in jail and fined Tk 2,000 each in a case filed with Tejgaon police station in May 2013 on charge of ‘sabotage.’
The additional district sessions judge in Rangpur, Krishna Kanto Ray, on Monday, sentenced five BNP men, including BNP district unit member secretary Anisur Rahman Laku and city unit member secretary advocate Mahafuz-un Nabi Don, in a case filed in May 2013.
The court fined them Tk 10,000 each or six more months in jail in default.
Farzana Sharmin Putul, a Supreme Court lawyer and member of the BNP’s human rights committee, told New Age that possible candidates were also awarded convictions in case the party decided to join the election under a caretaker government.
A High Court verdict pronounced in 2018 and published in October barred people jailed for two years or more from joining parliamentary elections.
Dhaka metropolitan sessions judge court additional public prosecutor Tapash Kumar Pal claimed none of the convictions awarded by the magistrate courts found any political motivation in those cases.
The Dhaka Metropolitan Police deputy commissioner (prosecution), Anisur Rahman, declined to comment on the number of cases.
Good governance campaigner and Sushashoner Jonno Nagorik secretary Badiul Alam Majumdar said that such a situation was created to deny people their fundamental rights and voting rights.
Ain O Salish Kendra executive director Faruq Faisal said whatever the government was doing now was injustice and the manifestation of a collapsed justice delivery system.
In July, the police decided to take steps to ensure the conviction of probable candidates of the Bangladesh Nationalist Party and the Jamaat-e-Islam to disqualify them from the next general election.
The police headquarters held a special emergency meeting on July 6 to analyse the investigation into and trial of the violence and arson cases filed against BNMP and Jamaat leaders and activists since 2013.
According to the leaked minutes, the meeting decided to pick ‘selective’ cases to bring the maximum number of leaders and activists, especially possible candidates, under conviction.
Over 35 lakh cases are pending with the country’s metropolitan and district courts as of December 31, 2022, according to the latest Supreme Court statistics.
Until July, the BNP media cell statistics showed that 1,37,569 ‘false cases’ were filed against 49,80,826 leaders, activists, and supporters of the party and its associate bodies between January 2009 and June 12, 2023.
According to Jamaat, 1,10,472 leaders, activists, and supporters have been arrested in 23,893 cases since the Awami League government assumed power. At least 96,093 leaders, activists, and supporters were remanded in police custody.
BNP estimated that 12,505 leaders and activists of the party were arrested, while 281 cases were filed in the past 20 days.
Dhaka Metropolitan Police said that they had arrested 1,965 opposition leaders and activists between October 28 and November 14.
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