Court rejects bail pleas by BNP’s Mirza Fakhrul, Abbas for fourth time

The court ordered jail authorities to give them the best medical treatment possible

A Dhaka court has rejected the bail petitions filed by BNP Secretary General Mirza Fakhrul Islam Alamgir and BNP Standing Committee member Mirza Abbas for the fourth time.

However, Judge Md Asaduzzaman of the Dhaka Metropolitan Sessions Court ordered the jail authorities to provide them with the best medical care possible due to their status as political leaders and respected persons following the hearing at 4:30 pm on Wednesday.

Supreme Court advocates Zainul Abedin and Masud Ahmed Talukder filed the bail petitions on behalf of the BNP leaders. Dhaka Metropolitan Public Prosecutor Abdullah Abu opposed the motion for the state.

After hearing arguments from both sides, the court rejected the bail pleas.

Bail petitions submitted for other BNP leaders Shahid Uddin Chowdhury Annie, Abdus Salam, and Selimuddin Selim will be heard on Jan 25.

Earlier on Wednesday, Zainul Abedin had submitted interim bail pleas to the court and the hearing was set for 3 pm.

On Dec 7, BNP activists clashed with police in front of their party headquarters in Dhaka’s Naya Paltan, according to the case documents. One man was shot and killed and many others were injured in the violence.

Police then conducted a raid and arrested many BNP leaders and activists, including BNP Senior Joint Secretary General Ruhul Kabir Rizvi, Dhaka Metropolitan North BNP Convener Aman Ullah Aman, and Special Assistant to the BNP Chairperson Shamsur Rahman Shimul Biswas.

Police filed a case at Paltan Model Police Station over the attack and under the Explosives Act.

Of the 450 detainees, the court granted bail to Aman Ullah Aman and Abdur Quader Jewel. Rizvi, Annie and 432 other BNP activists were immediately sent to jail and 14 other suspects were sent to jail after two days of interrogation in police custody.

Then, around 3 am on Dec 9, Mirza Fakhrul and Mirza Abbas were detained by police. They were officially arrested that afternoon by police detectives. They petitioned the court for bail that evening, but the court scrapped their plea. It has since rejected bail petitions three more times.