Pro-BNP lawyers distribute leaflets among the lawyers at the Supreme Court with a call to boycott courts for a week from Monday, protesting at the ‘one-sided’ general elections. — Md Saurav
Pro-opposition lawyers on Monday started boycotting proceedings of courts for seven days across the country expressing solidarity with the main opposition Bangladesh Nationalist Party’s non-cooperation with the government protesting at the January 7 election.
Jatiyatabadi Ainjibi Forum secretary general Kayser Kamal told New Age that opposition lawyers boycotted the proceedings of the courts in 52 districts.
Kayser said that lawyers in other districts did not enforce boycotting of the courts’ proceedings as there were annual references in the courts to remember the lawyers and judges died in the last year.
Asked about the fate of scheduled hearings on bail prayers filed by detained BNP leaders, Kayser said that neither lawyers nor BNP leaders were interested in hearings as the hearings have been rescheduled after the January 7 election.
At the Supreme Court, opposition lawyers distributed leaflets among the lawyers to boycott the proceedings of the courts from today, Tuesday, until January 7.
Supreme Court Bar Association’s ad hoc committee member secretary Shah Ahmed Badal served a letter on chief justice Obaidul Hassan urging him and other judges not to operate courts from January 1 to January 7 expressing solidarity with the opposition parties’ peaceful protest against the January 7 election.
Supreme Court registrar general Md Golam Rabbani accepted the letter, Badal told New Age.
In Dhaka Courts, lawyers leaning to the BNP and Jamaat boycotted proceedings of the courts and brought out a procession in the court compound in support of boycotting the court proceedings.
The protesters chanted various slogans demanding to stop the ‘dummy election’ and criticised punishment of opposition leaders illegally in a hurried manner to prevent them from raising voice against the one-sided election.
The rally was addressed, among others, by senior Dhaka Court lawyers Iqbal Hossain Khorshed Mia Alam, Omar Farooq Farooqui, Mohsin Mia, Abdur Razzak and SM Kamal.
Jatiyatabadi Ainjibi leader Kayser Kamal said that opposition parties-backed lawyers of the 52 district bar associations, 6 of which in the Dhaka division, boycotted the courts peacefully.
New Age
