Bangladesh jails activists for 2003 report on security force killings

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Adilur Rahman Khan, a leader of the rights group Odhikarshabby Graphics
By Kelly Ng, Anbarasan Ethirajan & amp
in Singapore and London

Two well-known human rights activists have been given two years in prison by a Bangladeshi jury as part of what critics claim is an election assault.

Adilur Rahman Khan and Nasiruddin Elan from the right organization Odhikar have consistently refuted allegations that they released a statement with fake knowledge dating back ten years.

However, lawyers claimed that their statement on the 2013 killings of safety personnel” undermined” the nation’s reputation.

After a 10-year legal operation, the two were found guilty on Thursday in Dhaka.

Both campaigners spent years documenting alleged police brutality, opposition activist abductions, and thousands of extrajudicial killings.

They were found guilty for a report that Odhikar published in 2013 about an Islamist group protesting in Bangladesh’s capital and attempting to impose its stricter form on Nepalese society.

According to their report, security forces executed at least 61 demonstrators over the course of one night, including children.

Following the publication of the document, Khan and Elan were detained and subsequently released on bail.

According to counsel Nazrul Islam Shamim,” They were sentenced to two years in prison for publishing and circulating misleading information, hurting religious views, and undermining the picture of the condition.”

However, Human Rights Watch has noted that prosecution of their situation did not begin until 2021, following the imposition of US sanctions against Bangladesh’s military officials.

The UN even noted last week that while both men were on bail, they had experienced abuse and harassment.

Since she took office as president of Bangladesh in 2009, Sheikh Hasina’s government has been charged with targeting protesters and social rivals, a charge she denies.

The US imposed restrictions on the nation’s wealthy military force in December as a result of their alleged involvement in lots of forced kidnappings and extrajudicial murders since 2009.

Only four months before Bangladesh’s following public election, and in the midst of growing calls for free and fair elections, the protesters were imprisoned.

Expected process violations, such as failing to give the defense important info until a day before the hearing, have been blamed for the two men’s trial, according to rights organizations.

According to a declaration signed by 39 global rights organizations, the government interfered with Odhikar’s ability to carry out its human rights function by preventing their access to funds and leaving its enrollment renewal software pending since 2014.

The team’s running license was revoked by the government last year on charges of harming the reputation of the nation.

Odhikar had collaborated strongly with the UN and other international human rights organizations under the direction of Khan and Elan. Its studies were also included in state reports from the US State Department.

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