Dhaka, Sep 4 A Bangladesh court on Thursday dismissed the bail petitions of former minister and freedom fighter Abdul Latif Siddique and journalist Monjurul Alam Panna in an alleged anti-terrorism case, local media reported.
Confirming the development, defence lawyer Farzana Yeasmin Rakhi said Dhaka Metropolitan Magistrate Hasib Ullah Pias issued the order following the submission of their bail petitions.
On Wednesday, another Dhaka court rejected bail to freedom fighter Golam Mostafa, Zakir Hossain, Tawsiful Bari Khan, Amir Hossain Sumon, Shafiqul Islam Delwar, and Jatiya Samajtantrik Dal (JSD) leader Abdullahil Kayum in connection with the same case.
Earlier on August 28, the police arrested 16 people, including Sidiqqui and Dhaka University Professor Sheikh Hafizur Rahman, sparking public outrage across the country.
The police filed a case against them under the Anti-Terrorism Act at Shahbagh Police Station in the capital.
Subsequently, on August 29, all 16 accused were sent to jail after being produced before the court.
The arrest followed after Siddiqui, Rahman, and others participated in a roundtable discussion, titled 'Our Great Liberation War and the Constitution of Bangladesh', organised by a platform called Mancha 71 at the Dhaka Reporters Unity (DRU).
“We are witnessing that an ill attempt is going on to throw away the country’s constitution. Jamaat (Bangladesh Jamaat-e-Islami), Shibir (Islami Chhatra Shibir) and National Citizen Party (NCP) are behind this. Led by Muhammad Yunus, they have been humiliating freedom fighters with garlands of shoes,” Bangladesh’s leading Bengali daily Prothom Alo quoted Dhaka University professor Rahman as saying during the discussion.
Following Rahman's speech, a group of people entered the DRU auditorium with a procession, tore down the roundtable banner, and confined the participants inside, before handing them over to the police.
Recently the Bangladesh’s Awami League Party condemned the arrest of “heroic” freedom fighters and those inspired by the spirit of the country’s 1971 Liberation War through mob terrorism.
Slamming the Muhammad Yunus-led interim government, the party said, “Since the illegal usurpation of state power by the murderous fascist Yunus clique, the people of the country have witnessed their ongoing attempts to dishonour, humiliate, and insult the Great Liberation War and our freedom fighters. It seems their primary target has always been the Liberation War itself.”
“In this continuation, in Dhaka, at the Dhaka Reporters Unity (DRU), the anti-liberation forces carried out mob terrorism, resulting in the arrest of eminent freedom fighter Abdul Latif Siddique, Dhaka University law professor Sheikh Hafizur Rahman Karzon, journalist Manjur Alam (Panna), professional ATM Anisur Rahman Bulbul, and other noted freedom fighters and individuals inspired by the Liberation War spirit,” the Awami League stated.
The party alleged that the “evil forces—born of the blood-seed of anti-liberation elements” — are now showing arrogance, backed directly by the “murderous fascist" Yunus clique. According to the party, the “illegal occupying” group is desecrating the great sacrifice of Bangladesh during the 1971 Liberation War.
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