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Published : 16 Nov 2025, 01:13 PM
Expelled Awami League leader and former minister Abdul Latif Siddique, who was granted bail by the High Court in an anti-terrorism case filed with the Shahbagh Police Station, has appeared at the Dhaka Magistrate’s Court.
The former minister, accompanied by his younger brother, Krishak Sramik Janata League President Abdul Kader Siddique, went to the court in Dhaka on Sunday.
The investigation report in the case was scheduled to be submitted to the court of Dhaka Metropolitan Magistrate Awlad Hossain Muhammad Jonaid on Sunday. However, the investigation officer, Sub-Inspector Toufiq Hasan of Shahbagh Police Station, was unable to submit the report.
The court has set Dec 30 as the next date for submitting the report, said Sub-Inspector Jinnat Ali of the prosecution police.
On Sunday, Latif applied to appear through his lawyer Rezaul Karim Hiron.
Hiron said in the hearing, "He (Latif) is 86 years old. He is suffering from various diseases. He fulfils all the requirements to allow his lawyer to represent him at hearings. I pray to the court to grant his application."
After the hearing, the court granted the request to appear through a lawyer. As a result, Latif will no longer have to appear in court in person, his legal counsel said.
Latif and Kader arrived at the court around 10:30am. After the hearing, they left the court premises around 11:40am.
On Aug 28, police detained Latif, who was injured in a mob attack, and journalist Monjurul Alam Panna, along with 16 others, during a discussion on the Liberation War and the Constitution at the Dhaka Reporters Unity (DRU).
The following day, they were shown arrested in a case filed under the Anti-Terrorism Act at Shahbagh Police Station and sent to jail.
According to the case dossier, a platform called Mancha 71 was formed on Aug 5 to “resist conspiracies to erase and distort the history of the Liberation War”.
The group organised a discussion at DRU on Aug 28, where a group allegedly stormed into the venue, shouted slogans, tore banners, and confined the participants.
Police later arrived and detained 16 people.
Sub-Inspector Amirul Islam of Shahbagh Police Station filed the case under the Anti-Terrorism Act the following day.
