As the news broke that the Lady Justice statue was being removed from in front of the Supreme Court late on early Friday morning, protesters gathered in front of the premises and shouted slogans Mahmud Hossain OpuTuhin Kanti Das, president of Bangladesh Student Union’s Dhaka University unit, said the protesters were unarmed, a fact that would be evident to anyone who watched the march live on news channels.
He said: “We were protesting that day without having any violent intentions, without any bricks or sticks in our hands and planned to move towards the Supreme Court.
“When we reached Doyel Chattar, police started firing tear gas and water cannons towards us.”
He said police were particularly aggressive that day.
“They did not even try to talk to us like they usually do when barricading a march. They just started firing tear gas shells.”
The law enforcers’ actions were politically motivated, he alleged and said that even after ending the protest police continued to fire tear gas shells targeting female protesters.
“This means the government did these things just to make Hefazat-e-Islam happy and use them as a vote bank. I never saw such action during any protest.”
The lawyer representing the protesters, barrister Sara Hossain, said the FIR was unclear.
“There are no specific allegations. They are saying the accused had dangerous weapons but did not mention clearly what they used them for. In some cases, even the statements are conflicting,” she said.
Sara Hossain questioned who would hold accountable the lawmen who are filing cases which have no connections with reality.
“There is no authority to bring them to account, not the police nor the Home Ministry,” she said.
Sara Hossain also finds very disturbing the use of the term “murti” in brackets to identify the sculpture in the FIR.
Jamshed Anwar Tapan, general secretary of Udichi, said that the case made evident how clearly backward the government’s arms are culturally.
“My understanding is that the government just does not want anyone speaking out against it. Also the fact that the FIR brings accusations against 140-150 unnamed people means that anyone who speaks out in the future can be included in the case.
“The accused have been charged with offences under the criminal code which are ridiculous. The protest was not illegal and there was no ban on gathering in place. We have a constitutional right to protest and we went there in a peaceful manner,” he added.
Ganasanghati Andolan Coordinator Zonayed Saki said the nation had witnessed in the media what the protesters against the removal of the sculpture did.
“Now if police bring up false charges against them, it becomes clear that the government’s stand is anti-public, it is suppressing people’s rights.”
The government has no ground under its feet and wants to remain in power by appeasing various quarters, Saki alleged.
Worker’s Party Chairman and Tourism Minister Rashed Khan Menon declined to comment on the issue.
Information Minister Hasanul Haque Inu said: “As the case has already been filed, it is now the court’s prerogative to find out what happened. But I have demanded the release of the four student leaders.”Rights activists have criticised the decision of law enforcers to charge protesters against the removal of the Lady Justice sculpture from the Supreme Court premises with an attempt to murder case.
Four protesters were arrested allegedly for attacking and obstructing the police on the day of removal of the Lady Justice sculpture.
All four of them were released on Sunday after obtaining bail from a Dhaka court.
The four are: Liton Nandi, general secretary of Bangladesh Students Union (BSU), Morshed Halim, president of Bangladesh Students Union’s Dhaka College unit, another BSU member named Joy, and cultural platform Udichi’s central committee member Noor.
The four men were arrested from the Dhaka University campus from a protest march against the removal of the Lady Justice statue from Supreme Court on Friday.
In the FIR, police claimed that 140-150 protesters from several leftist student organisations and cultural organisations “armed with dangerous weapons attacked the police attempting to murder them.”
But the protesters who joined that day’s rally say no such thing happened.
As the news broke that the Lady Justice statue was being removed from in front of the Supreme Court late on early Friday morning, protesters gathered in front of the premises and shouted slogans Mahmud Hossain OpuTuhin Kanti Das, president of Bangladesh Student Union’s Dhaka University unit, said the protesters were unarmed, a fact that would be evident to anyone who watched the march live on news channels.
He said: “We were protesting that day without having any violent intentions, without any bricks or sticks in our hands and planned to move towards the Supreme Court.
“When we reached Doyel Chattar, police started firing tear gas and water cannons towards us.”
He said police were particularly aggressive that day.
“They did not even try to talk to us like they usually do when barricading a march. They just started firing tear gas shells.”
The law enforcers’ actions were politically motivated, he alleged and said that even after ending the protest police continued to fire tear gas shells targeting female protesters.
“This means the government did these things just to make Hefazat-e-Islam happy and use them as a vote bank. I never saw such action during any protest.”
The lawyer representing the protesters, barrister Sara Hossain, said the FIR was unclear.
“There are no specific allegations. They are saying the accused had dangerous weapons but did not mention clearly what they used them for. In some cases, even the statements are conflicting,” she said.
Sara Hossain questioned who would hold accountable the lawmen who are filing cases which have no connections with reality.
“There is no authority to bring them to account, not the police nor the Home Ministry,” she said.
Sara Hossain also finds very disturbing the use of the term “murti” in brackets to identify the sculpture in the FIR.
Jamshed Anwar Tapan, general secretary of Udichi, said that the case made evident how clearly backward the government’s arms are culturally.
“My understanding is that the government just does not want anyone speaking out against it. Also the fact that the FIR brings accusations against 140-150 unnamed people means that anyone who speaks out in the future can be included in the case.
“The accused have been charged with offences under the criminal code which are ridiculous. The protest was not illegal and there was no ban on gathering in place. We have a constitutional right to protest and we went there in a peaceful manner,” he added.
Ganasanghati Andolan Coordinator Zonayed Saki said the nation had witnessed in the media what the protesters against the removal of the sculpture did.
“Now if police bring up false charges against them, it becomes clear that the government’s stand is anti-public, it is suppressing people’s rights.”
The government has no ground under its feet and wants to remain in power by appeasing various quarters, Saki alleged.
Worker’s Party Chairman and Tourism Minister Rashed Khan Menon declined to comment on the issue.
Information Minister Hasanul Haque Inu said: “As the case has already been filed, it is now the court’s prerogative to find out what happened. But I have demanded the release of the four student leaders.”
As the news broke that the Lady Justice statue was being removed from in front of the Supreme Court late on early Friday morning, protesters gathered in front of the premises and shouted slogans Mahmud Hossain OpuTuhin Kanti Das, president of Bangladesh Student Union’s Dhaka University unit, said the protesters were unarmed, a fact that would be evident to anyone who watched the march live on news channels.
He said: “We were protesting that day without having any violent intentions, without any bricks or sticks in our hands and planned to move towards the Supreme Court.
“When we reached Doyel Chattar, police started firing tear gas and water cannons towards us.”
He said police were particularly aggressive that day.
“They did not even try to talk to us like they usually do when barricading a march. They just started firing tear gas shells.”
The law enforcers’ actions were politically motivated, he alleged and said that even after ending the protest police continued to fire tear gas shells targeting female protesters.
“This means the government did these things just to make Hefazat-e-Islam happy and use them as a vote bank. I never saw such action during any protest.”
The lawyer representing the protesters, barrister Sara Hossain, said the FIR was unclear.
“There are no specific allegations. They are saying the accused had dangerous weapons but did not mention clearly what they used them for. In some cases, even the statements are conflicting,” she said.
Sara Hossain questioned who would hold accountable the lawmen who are filing cases which have no connections with reality.
“There is no authority to bring them to account, not the police nor the Home Ministry,” she said.
Sara Hossain also finds very disturbing the use of the term “murti” in brackets to identify the sculpture in the FIR.
Jamshed Anwar Tapan, general secretary of Udichi, said that the case made evident how clearly backward the government’s arms are culturally.
“My understanding is that the government just does not want anyone speaking out against it. Also the fact that the FIR brings accusations against 140-150 unnamed people means that anyone who speaks out in the future can be included in the case.
“The accused have been charged with offences under the criminal code which are ridiculous. The protest was not illegal and there was no ban on gathering in place. We have a constitutional right to protest and we went there in a peaceful manner,” he added.
Ganasanghati Andolan Coordinator Zonayed Saki said the nation had witnessed in the media what the protesters against the removal of the sculpture did.
“Now if police bring up false charges against them, it becomes clear that the government’s stand is anti-public, it is suppressing people’s rights.”
The government has no ground under its feet and wants to remain in power by appeasing various quarters, Saki alleged.
Worker’s Party Chairman and Tourism Minister Rashed Khan Menon declined to comment on the issue.
Information Minister Hasanul Haque Inu said: “As the case has already been filed, it is now the court’s prerogative to find out what happened. But I have demanded the release of the four student leaders.”