Bangladesh Crackdown: Rights Body Slams Yunus Govt Over Lawyer Attacks

In a statement, Justice Makers Bangladesh in France (JMBF) expressed grave concern, describing the incidents as acts of persecution against lawyers “solely for performing their professional duties or holding differing political views”.

The rights body said such actions constitute not only an assault on the independence of the judiciary but also a direct threat to the legal community defending human rights.

“Such incidents are clear violations of the Constitution of Bangladesh, as well as of the fundamental human rights and professional freedoms enshrined in the United Nations declarations,” the JMBF stated

Citing multiple news reports and reliable sources, JMBF mentioned that on November 8, a team of police officers from Akhaura Police Station, accompanied by local Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP) members, arrived at Advocate Mohammad Alamgir’s village home in Brahmanbaria district to arrest him. The rights body added that Alamgir reportedly left Dhaka earlier that afternoon and evaded arrest, but the police detained one of his neighbours as an “act of intimidation”.

In another incident, the rights body said on October 22, the police in Rangpur district arrested Advocate Jahangir Hossain Tuhin, former Public Prosecutor (PP) of the Rangpur Women and Children Repression Prevention Tribunal, in connection with what it described as “fabricated and politically motivated cases.”

In a separate incident on November 10, JMBF revealed that bombs were hurled at the office of the Lawyers’ Association and at the chamber of Rubayet Anwar Monir in Shariatpur district. Additionally, on November 9, the home of Advocate Ashraful Alam — the counsel representing the plaintiff in a murder case — was attacked by armed assailants in Nalitabari of Sherpur district

The rights body further stated that earlier in September, in Kuakata, Patuakhali district, Advocate Anwar Hossain was severely beaten and stabbed by a group of assailants, leaving him critically injured.

“These recurring incidents expose a disturbing pattern of systematic persecution against the legal community in Bangladesh — occurring under the direct instigation, tolerance, or silence of the current interim government — in blatant violation of the country’s Constitution and international human rights conventions,” the JMBF asserted.

Condemning the violence, JMBF Chief Advisor and renowned French human rights defender Robert Simon said, “Such persecution and violence against lawyers devoted to defending human rights in Bangladesh are absolutely unacceptable in a democratic society. No human rights defender can be silenced through intimidation or arrest.”

The JMBF called upon the international community to immediately condemn these acts and press the Yunus-led interim government to ensure the safety and independence of the legal profession in Bangladesh.

- IANS