Bangladesh government has approved sedition charge against retired Lieutenant General Chowdhury Hasan Sarwardy and United States citizen Mian Zahidul Islam Arefy, both arrested in a case with Paltan Police Station in Dhaka for cheating people with a false identity.
‘We appealed to the home ministry to approve sedition charge against them and the ministry has approved it on Thursday (November 2, 2023). We are yet to get all the papers in this connection,’ said Dhaka Metropolitan Police’s detective branch deputy commissioner (Matijheel) Rajib Al Masud.
Sarwardy and Mian Arefy are named in a case filed with the Paltan police station on October 29 night as they attended a press conference at the main opposition Bangladesh Nationalist Party central office in Dhaka on May 28, the day when BNP’s grand rally was foiled due to violence and police action.
At the press conference, Arefy was falsely introduced by Sarwardy as an advisor to US president Joe Biden and the US citizen blamed the law enforcement agencies for the violence on the day and spoke against the Awami League government.
DC Rajib Al Masud said that they would now add section 124(A) of The Penal Code, 1860 with other sections mentioned in the case against them.
The section 124(A) of The Penal Code, 1860 reads, ‘Whoever by words, either spoken or written, or by signs, or by visible representation, or otherwise, brings or attempts to bring into hatred or contempt, or excites or attempts to excite disaffection towards, the Government established by law shall be punished with imprisonment for life or any shorter term, to which fine may be added, or with imprisonment which may extend to three years, to which fine may be added, or with fine.’
Detectives arrested Chowdhury Hasan Sarwardy at Savar On October 31 for his alleged links with Mian Zahidul Islam Arefy.
DB arrested Arefy at Hazrat Shahjalal International Airport on October 29, 2023 afternoon and a metropolitan magistrate court in Dhaka sent him to jail.
New Age
