&w=3840&q=100)
Bangladesh jails former chief justice Khairul Haque for murder during anti-Hasina protests
Former Chief Justice of Bangladesh ABM Khairul Haque jailed after being named in murder case linked to last year's uprising against Hasina. X
A Dhaka court on Thursday ordered the imprisonment of former Chief Justice of Bangladesh ABM Khairul Haque in connection with a murder case that happened during the anti-government protests in July last year. The case involves a teenager named Abdul Kaiyum Ahad, who was shot dead during the July uprising, which eventually toppled the government of former Bangladesh Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina.
According to Bangladeshi news outlet The Dhaka Tribune, the order of imprisonment was issued by Dhaka's Additional Chief Metropolitan Magistrate Md Sanaullah following a hearing held on Thursday night. Earlier that evening at 7:45 pm (local time), Jatrabari police station Inspector Khaled Hasan, who is investigating the case, brought Khairul to court. The authorities submitted the petition for the detention of the former Bangladeshi chief justice.
STORY CONTINUES BELOW THIS AD
Khairul was eventually presented before the court under tight police control at approximately 8:15 pm (local time). The prosecution alleged that Abdul Kaiyum, son of plaintiff Md Alauddin, was shot in the face and chest by the accused during a protest and collapsed near the Kajla police box. They noted that several other protesters were also killed in the incident.
What are the accusations against the ex-Bangladeshi Chief Justice?
The prosecution went on to claim that Khairul, during his tenure as Chief Justice from May 1, 2011, committed a criminal breach of trust and acts of sedition by misusing his judicial authority. The 81-year-old was also accused of delivering forged and fraudulent verdicts.
The petition also mentioned that multiple cases against him remain pending in various police stations across the country. The prosecution also cited concerns that Khairul might use his past influence to disrupt the ongoing investigation and requested that he be held in custody until the trial is complete.
While the court granted the plea, what was concerning was the fact that no defence lawyer was present at the hearing to represent Khairul. Meanwhile, news of his trial also triggered demonstrations outside the courtroom. Several pro-BNP lawyers and citizens gathered at the premises, chanting slogans and expressing anger toward the former top judge.
The former chief justice was arrested by the Detective Branch (DB) of Dhaka Metropolitan Police from his Dhanmondi residence on Thursday afternoon, The Dhaka Tribune reported. As per the court document, Abdul Kaiyum Ahad was fatally shot on July 18, 2024, during the Anti-Discrimination Student Movement in front of the Kajla police box in Jatrabari.
He was allegedly shot dead by Abul Hasan, officer-in-charge of Jatrabari police station, who fired multiple shots into both of the boy's legs, causing his death on the spot. It is pertinent to note that ABM Khairul Haque served as the 19th Chief Justice of Bangladesh, assuming the role back in 2010. He retired the following year, having reached the mandatory retirement age of 67.
STORY CONTINUES BELOW THIS AD
Interestingly, it was Khairul who delivered the landmark verdict of abolishing the caretaker government system. While serving the High Court Division, Khairul also ruled over the assassination case of Bangabandhu Mujibur Rehman and the case concerning the Fifth Amendment to the Constitution.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Hindustan Times
3 minutes ago
- Hindustan Times
Brazil's President Lula plans joint statement with PM Narendra Modi, other BRICS leaders on Donald Trump's tariffs
Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva on Wednesday indicated his plans to call PM Narendra Modi and other leaders of the BRICS bloc in response to the tariffs imposed by US President Donald Trump. Brazil's President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva speaks during an interview with Reuters at the Alvorada Palace, in Brasilia, Brazil, He said he was planning to ring PM Narendra Modi, Chinese President Xi Jinping and other leaders of BRICS.(REUTERS) The US tariffs on Brazilian goods jumped to 50% on Wednesday, but Lula said that his country won't announce any reciprocal measures. Instead, the Brazilian President told Reuters in an interview that he was planning to ring PM Narendra Modi, Chinese President Xi Jinping and other leaders of BRICS to discuss the possibility of a joint statement on Trump's tariffs. Trump had announced that the US would impose an additional 10 per cent tariff on 'any country aligning themselves with the Anti-American policies of BRICS' with 'no exceptions'. The BRICS countries, including India, had released a joint declaration voicing 'serious concerns' about the 'rise of unilateral tariff and non-tariff measures' in an apparent jibe at the Trump administration's trade policy. Lula might be looking for a more stinging statement from BRICS this time around. Brazil President doubles down on not calling Donald Trump Brazil's President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva is in no rush to ring the White House, doubling down on his earlier statement that he wouldn't call Donald Trump to hold talks over the tariff issue. "The day my intuition says Trump is ready to talk, I won't hesitate to call him. But today my intuition says he doesn't want to talk. And I'm not going to humiliate myself," Lula told Reuters. Lula described the US-Brazil relations at a 200-year nadir after Trump tied the new tariff to his demand for an end to the prosecution of right-wing former President Jair Bolsonaro, who is standing trial for plotting to overturn the 2022 election. The President said Brazil's Supreme Court, which is hearing the case against Bolsonaro, "does not care what Trump says and it should not," adding that Bolsonaro should face another trial for provoking Trump's intervention, calling the right-wing former president a "traitor to the homeland." "We had already pardoned the US intervention in the 1964 coup. But this now is not a small intervention. It's the president of the United States thinking he can dictate rules for a sovereign country like Brazil. It's unacceptable," Lula said. Despite Brazil's exports facing one of the highest tariffs imposed by Trump, the new US trade barriers look unlikely to derail Latin America's largest economy, giving its President more room to stand his ground against Trump than most Western leaders.
Time of India
32 minutes ago
- Time of India
Kavitha demands concrete steps to get 42% quota for BCs
Hyderabad: Telangana Jagruthi president and BRS MLC Kalvakuntla Kavitha has asked the Congress govt to clarify whether Muslim reservations are included in the proposed 42% Backward Classes (BCs) reservations and wondered how Union minister Bandi Sanjay knew they were included even before the state clarified the matter. Kavitha warned that Telangana BCs will teach a lesson to both BJP and Congress, who are "playing political dramas". The MLC accused BJP and Congress of colluding to cheat the BCs. She lashed out at BJP, stating it was doing everything it could to snatch away opportunities meant for BCs. "The public is well aware of BJP's anti-BC stance," she added. Speaking to the media after participating in the Jagruthi foundation day celebrations and Prof Jayashankar's birthday at her Banjara Hills office on Wednesday, Kavitha demanded that chief minister A Revanth Reddy meet with President Droupadi Murmu for approval of the two BC bills, and if the governor refuses to promulgate an ordinance, the state govt should approach the Supreme Court. She warned that without such concrete steps, empty speeches would only deceive the BC community. She demanded that Revanth Reddy take an all-party delegation to Delhi and urged him to write letters to the state presidents of all political parties regarding this. You Can Also Check: Hyderabad AQI | Weather in Hyderabad | Bank Holidays in Hyderabad | Public Holidays in Hyderabad She announced that Telangana Jagruthi would lead a social revolution in the state, alongside a cultural revolution. She said Jagruthi was committed to achieving Social Telangana and affirmed that not a single issue would be left out in this endeavour.
The Hindu
33 minutes ago
- The Hindu
Mumbai train blasts, an exoneration, the questions
The Bombay High Court's exoneration of all those convicted in the Mumbai train blast case of July 2006, has come as a rude shock for the families of the 189 people killed and around 800 people who were injured. The High Court has ripped apart the investigation, calling witnesses untrustworthy, deeming confessions gained as under duress, terming identification parades faulty and citing forensic evidence custody as not foolproof. It is a shocker because it was based on the same evidence that the trial court, in 2015, sentenced five of the accused to death and seven to life imprisonment. A long wait, lapses Who will answer for the inordinately long incarceration of the accused since 2006? The police, the prosecution, lawyers or the courts? Or all of them, that is the criminal justice system? It takes years for trials in courts. One of the defence lawyers said that the charge sheet filed by the Anti-Terrorist Squad (ATS) had 20,000 pages, while much lesser numbers would suffice. It is like schoolchildren taking their examinations and filling pages with answers, hoping to impress the teacher with volume rather than quality. But the nine years taken by the Special Court and 10 years by the High Court for their decisions make the waiting period so agonising to the point of being meaningless for the accused. Nineteen years is a lifetime and almost like a sentence itself. Admitted there is tremendous pressure on investigating teams and the police chief in a terrorist or any high-profile case. The government gets unsettled with the Opposition's relentless attacks and demand to arrest the accused within minutes. It impacts investigation severely, pushing investigating officers into a corner, taking hasty decisions and bypassing protocol and procedures. But some of the issues referred to by the High Court raise concerns. Despite two confessions taken by two different deputy commissioners of police, they appear to be not similar but actually the same, with even the ellipsis matching. The witnesses became untrustworthy because, on cross-examination, they did not remain true to their original statements. Guess no one can after a lapse of so many years. It was surprising that the drawer of the sketches of the accused was not called as a witness. The test identification parade became suspect because the special executive officer who conducted it was not authorised to do so. Strange, because the magistrate who conducted it should have known whether he was the right person to undertake the TIP. The investigation, however, is truly flawed if the forensic evidence purity and chain of custody cannot be vouched for faithfully. It is troubling to hear that even in such critical cases there could be lapses on this count. The use of RTI filings Perhaps the biggest message from this trial is how the Right to Information (RTI) Act, known as the sunshine legislation, enacted 20 years ago, has stood the test of time, bringing transparency and accountability in government functioning. Hundreds of RTIs were filed by the accused and the defence lawyers to elicit information from the police, hospitals, and the Mahanagar Telephone Nigam Limited to build up their case and cross-examine the prosecution witnesses and prove them wrong on various counts. In one instance, it was the name of a non-existent person in a hospital, named by the prosecution witness or the shift in which one person was working was proven wrong. It is the noblest use of RTI, perhaps, if it is used to defend oneself. This is a fundamental aspect of free trial and constitution under Article 20(3). Perhaps most embarrassing for the Mumbai police would have been the discovery of an Indian Mujahideen (IM) module, busted by the crime branch Mumbai in 2008, which accepted its role in the series of blasts in Ahmedabad, Delhi and Jaipur between 2005 to 2008. The gang led by Sadiq Israr Sheikh also claimed responsibility for the series of blasts in suburban trains on that day in Mumbai at around 6.30 p.m. The charge sheet in the July 11, 2006 Mumbai train blast case had already been filed by then, and the Anti-Terrorist Squad (ATS) had announced it as the handiwork of the Students Islamic Movement of India (SIMI). In fact, in 2008, the top man of SIMI, Safdar Nagori, general secretary, was arrested along with his associates in March 2008 in Indore, Madhya Pradesh, and was awarded life term in 2017. But how does this make any sense to the families of the victims of 7/11 or to a common man? How does it matter whether the police, the prosecution or the criminal justice system failed him? What matters is that 19 years later, he has no closure. For the accused who were incarcerated for 19 years, it is already a sentence served without proven guilty. They seek justice too. Reform must begin There are too many questions unanswered. The only way to answer them is to put the criminal justice system on track on a war footing. Formatting a new criminal law by changing a few old laws here and there is not enough. Every element of the criminal justice system should be reformed. Nineteen years for a decision is meaningless because the punishment has already been given. A prosecution overlooking basic issues is meaningless and an investigation overlooking the simplest of things is not worth it. Reform of the police, the judiciary, the prosecution and prisons cannot wait — we are sitting on a time bomb of people's expectations and frustrations, which may explode anytime. Yashovardhan Azad is a former IPS officer who has served as Central Information Commissioner, Secretary, Security, Government of India and Special Director, Intelligence Bureau
