SC statue removal: Police start case against protesters

Police have brought charges of attempted murder and obstructions to government duty against protesters opposing the removal of a statue from the Supreme Court premises.

Senior Correspondentbdnews24.com
Published : 27 May 2017, 09:17 AM
Updated : 28 May 2017, 07:38 AM

Four of the protesters arrested in the case were produced on Saturday before a Dhaka court which issued an order sending them to jail.

Dhaka Metropolitan Magistrate Satyabrata Shikdar will hear their bail petitions on Sunday.

The four arrested protesters include Liton Nondi, general secretary of left-leaning Bangladesh Students Union.

Shahbagh Police OC Md Abul Hasan told bdnews24.com that a case was started late Friday by Sub Inspector Md Mofakkharul Islam.

The case accuses at least 140 other unidentified persons under Section 307 of the Penal Code, said OC Hasan.

If the arrestees are found guilty, they may be sentenced to a maximum of 10 years in prison and a fine.

The statue of Lady Justice was removed from near the top court’s entrance on Thursday night, to appease a radical Islamist outfit, Hifazat-e-Islam.

Enraged by the decision, leftist student bodies began demonstrating outside the court premises and announced protests for the morning.

On Friday noon, police put up barricades near Bangladesh Shishu Academy to stop a procession by 'progressive students' who were marching toward the Supreme Court from the Raju Memorial at Dhaka University.

Police used teargas shells, water cannons and rubber bullets to disband the protesters as they tried to break through the barricades.

Five were detained from the demonstration. At least 20 have been injured, according to protesters.

Religious hardliners say the statue at the Supreme Court, an adaptation of Greek goddess Themis in a sari, goes against Islamic tenets.

According to them, the statue erected in December 2016, holding the familiar sword and scales of justice in her hands, amounts to idolatry.

Hifazat-e Islam, Olama League and several other Islamist organisations have been demanding the removal of the statue.

Hifazat chief Shah Ahmed Shafi led Qawmi madrasa representatives to a meeting a Ganabhaban where Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina conceded their demand over the statue on Apr 11.

She said she, too, dislikes the statue.