Bangladesh: Former CEC placed on three-day police remand

Dhaka, June 26 (IANS) Bangladesh’s former Chief Election Commissioner Kazi Habibul Awal was on Thursday placed on a three-day remand by a Dhaka court in connection with a case over alleged inaction and biased conduct during the national elections in 2024.

Dhaka Chief Metropolitan Magistrate Mohammad Mostafa Zaman issued the order after the police officers from Sher-e-Banglanagar Police Station produced the former CEC before the court, pleading for a 10-day remand.

Awal was taken into custody on Wednesday by the Detective Branch of Dhaka Metropolitan Police (DMP) after the Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP) filed a case over alleged irregularities and biased conduct during three previous national elections.

Confirming the development, DMP Deputy Commissioner and spokesman Talebur Rahman said that Awal was arrested from Dhaka's Moghbazar after the case was filed by BNP at the Sher-e-Banglanagar Police Station.

The BNP has accused 24 people - including former Chief Election Commissioners, Election Commissioners, and other officials - of irregularities and biased conduct while conducting the 2014, 2018 and 2024 national elections in the country.

Earlier this week, a Dhaka court ordered a four-day remand of former CEC K.M. Nurul Huda on charges of alleged manipulation of the national election.

Reports further suggest that the former CEC Huda was subjected to mob violence on Sunday before the police took him into custody following a case filed by the BNP against him and several others.

Local media reported that a group of people forcibly entered Huda's residence in Dhaka, dragged him outside, and publicly humiliated him by putting a garland of shoes around his neck. He was later taken into police custody.

Two human rights organisations in Bangladesh strongly condemned and protested the "humiliating and violent treatment" of Huda.

Additionally, 30 eminent citizens issued a joint statement slamming the recent mob violence against Huda and urged the interim government under Muhammad Yunus to initiate legal proceedings against those involved.

"Although the government has issued a statement condemning the incident and has said that legal action will be taken against those responsible, we have yet to see any visible steps, even though photos and videos of the attackers and harassers have been made public," read the statement.

"Incidents of mob violence and lawless attacks have been occurring for the past eight to 10 months in Dhaka and other districts across the country. Yet, there are virtually no examples of strong legal action being taken against the perpetrators. Had appropriate legal procedures, including filing criminal cases, been followed against those involved, such repeated incidents of mob violence might not have occurred," the statement added.

The Awami League also condemned the incident, stating, "The former Chief Election Commissioner (CEC), Bir Muktijoddha Nurul Huda -- a decorated freedom fighter who once held a constitutional office -- was shamefully dishonoured and arrested through mob violence".

"This grave injustice has deeply hurt the sentiment of the people of Bangladesh, yet the fascist Yunus regime, which has illegally clung to power like a boulder crushing the nation, continues to commit such monstrous acts," the Awami League further stated.

Analysts reckon the developments as a major political vendetta being pursued by the Yunus regime, as several cases were filed against the former Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina, her supporters and the working officials during her tenure on frivolous grounds immediately following her ouster in August 2024.

The unceremonious exit of Hasina last August was globally seen as a major setback to the democratic set-up in the country. The interim government has also received massive criticism for providing shelter to radical and extremist Islamic outfits.

--IANS

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