Bangladesh terror suspects get bail easily due to poor prosecution

Incompetent prosecution, lack of coordination between investigating agencies and slow pace of enquiry have contributed to hundreds of terror suspects getting away on bail in Bangladesh's courts.

That could explain the resurgence of Islamist terror in the country because arrest on suspicion rarely seems to lead to conviction, emboldening the radical hardliners to go about what they do best—kill and scare.

Records of Dhaka's Chief Metropolitan Magistrate Court alone points to nearly 500 terror suspects getting out on bail in the past eight years.

Most of these are said to be activists of Hizb-ut-Tahrir and Ansarullah Bangla Team.

Many activists of Jamaat ul Mujahideen Bangladesh (JMB) and Harkat ul Jihad al Islami (HiJI) have also got bail, though in lesser numbers than the Hizb-ut-Tahrir and Ansarullah camp followers.

Worse, in most of these cases, the state prosecution have not even appealed to oppose the bail petitions filed by these terror suspects , either in the High Court or in the lower courts in Dhaka.

Lack of coordination between state prosecution teams and various agencies involved in the investigation seems writ large in all these cases.

Chief Prosecutor at Dhaka Metropolitan Sessions Judge’s Court Abdullah Abu said that the police do not inform them about bails secured by terror suspects from the courts that have taken cognisance of the cases.

Meanwhile, police’s prosecution wing says it’s the job of the public prosecutor’s office to nail the culprits. They also blame its crime division for not furnishing necessary information.

The attorney general’s office says that delay in investigations and lack of specific charges against suspects lead to bail from the High Court. 

Bails on spotlight

Kazi Saifuddin Yahya secured bail from a Dhaka court on Jan 16 this year after he was arrested on charges of links to the Middle East-based militant outfit Islamic State.

“The judge clearly said why bail was granted though we had argued against it,” said Assistant Commissioner Aminur Rahman of police’s prosecution wing.

In 2013, Sad Al Nahin, Kamal Hossain Sardar, Kawser Hossain and Kamal Uddin were arrested for involvement in the attack on blogger Asif Mohiuddin.

The four confessed to their involvement, which was recorded by a magistrate in his chamber.

In July same year, Nahin was granted bail by a Dhaka court. The guarantor was his uncle State Minister for Labour Mujibul Haque Chunnu.

Two days later Hossain and Uddin also secured bail followed by Sardar’s bail a few days later.

Nahin, Hossain and Sardar were arrested by police last year over the murder of blogger Niladri Chatterjee Niloy inside his home in Dhaka.

Suspected JMB activists Md Ajmir and Golam Sarwar, who were arrested over the 2013 murder of six people at Dhaka’s Gopibagh, secured bail from the High Court last year.

The State did not appeal against the bail order.

UK Citizen Samiun Rahman Ibne Hamdan, a former Supreme Court judge’s son Asif Adnan and a former bureaucrat’s son Fazle Elahi were arrested for their suspected involvement with the Islamic State.

The trio secured bail from the High Court.

In 2012, police arrested 35 people from Dhaka’s Kalabagan in a case filed under the Anti Terrorism Act. But within few months all of them were released in bail.

In August 2012, police pressed charges against three people, including Hizub-ut-Tahrir’s senior advisor and Dhaka university teacher Golam Maula. He secured bail from the High Court in December the same year.

Who’s responsible?

All concerned authorities— from police to the prosecutors— have blamed each other for non-cooperation that led to failure in nailing the culprits.

Dhaka Metropolitan Sessions Judge Court’s Chief Prosecutor Abu Abdullah finds lack of coordination between police and the prosecutors as the key reason.

“Until the chargesheet is submitted, it’s the police’s prosecution wing’s job to handle issues in court.

“We are not being informed of a suspected militant securing bail at that stage of the legal proceedings. If that was done, we could move the High Court against the bail,” he told bdnews24.com.

But police says it’s the public prosecutor’s job to inform the attorney general’s office.

“There’s no option for us to move the High Court rather the public prosecutor’s office can do that,” said Deputy Commissioner HM Kamruzzaman of police’s prosecution wing.

Criminal law experts say that police’s incapability to garner evidence lead to bail for terror suspects.

“What police sometimes do is describe a petty militant as a big shot, then again they fail to find substantial evidence against a suspect, which clearly points to their lack of efficiency,” Aminul Gani Tito, who had handled several criminal proceeding in trial courts, told bdnews24.com.

Delay in investigations and lack of specific charges against suspect works against the State's efforts to move the High Court against bails granted by trial courts.

“Police comes up with common allegations rather than specific charges, that’s why the suspects get bail from the High Court,” Deputy Attorney general Biswajit Roy told bdnews24.com.

The State’s attempt to appeal against bail order in a few previous cases did not yield a verdict against terror suspects.