Dhaka, May 12 (IANS) Chief Election Commissioner (CEC) AMM Nasir Uddin has said that the Election Commission (EC) will take appropriate action on all activities of the Awami League after it receives the official gazette or paper banning the party.
The statement followed after the Muhammad Yunus-led interim government imposed a ban on all activities of the Awami League under the Anti-Terrorism Act until the trial of the party and its leaders in the International Crimes Tribunal was completed, according to local media reports.
“When we officially receive the government’s decision, we will act accordingly. We will sit in a meeting on Monday and take a decision,” the CEC said, speaking to a Bangladeshi television channel on Sunday.
The CEC said that the election body cannot take any decision on the basis of newspaper or TV reports.
On the other hand, Law, Justice and Parliamentary Affairs Advisor Asif Nazrul made the announcement of banning former Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina’s party, Awami League, after an emergency meeting of the Advisory Council on Saturday night.
“In the Advisory Council meeting, it was decided that until the trial of the Bangladesh Awami League and its leaders at the International Crimes Tribunal is completed, all activities of the Awami League — including in cyberspace — will be banned under the Anti Terrorism Act,” said Law Advisor Asif Nazrul.
According to some local media reports, the Anti-Terrorism Act, Feb 2009, was enacted to make provisions for the prevention of certain terrorist acts and ensure their effective punishment.
To fulfil the objectives of the act, the government may, based on reasonable grounds that any individual or entity is involved in terrorist activities, include that person on the official list or declare the entity as prohibited and add it to the list by issuing notifications in the official gazette.
However, there is no provision in the existing law regarding the prohibition of the activities of any entity. Hence, it will be amended on May 12, according to a statement by the interim regime.
Reports suggest that last week, several student groups, radical Islamist parties, and leaders of the newly formed National Citizen Party came to the streets, first staging a sit-in in front of the chief advisor’s residence and later gathering at Shahbag, Dhaka, demanding an immediate ban on the Awami League.
Meanwhile, Bangladeshi investigative agency submitted a report against Hasina, including former Home Minister Asaduzzaman Khan Kamal and former Inspector General of Police Chowdhury Abdullah Al-Mamun in a case filed over “genocide” charges during last year’s July mass uprising.
The report was handed over to the tribunal’s chief prosecutor’s office on Monday, said Chief Prosecutor Mohammad Tajul Islam, addressing a press conference.
The Yunus-led interim government has issued several arrest warrants against the former PM, her family members, and the Awami League supporters after coming to power in August last year.
Last month, a tribunal of Bangladesh issued an arrest warrant against Hasina and four others, including former Inspector General of Police (IGP) Benazir Ahmed, for an alleged mass killing at Shapla Chattar in Dhaka in 2013.
In January, a special tribunal in Dhaka ordered an arrest warrant for former Prime Minister Hasina and 11 other people over incidents of enforced disappearances.
Ironically, the tribunal was established by the government led by Hasina under the International Crimes (Tribunals) Act to provide for the detection, prosecution and punishment of persons responsible for genocide, crimes against humanity, war crimes and other crimes under International Law committed by the Pakistani Army, with the help of their local collaborators, in the territory of Bangladesh during the 1971 Liberation War.
Analysts reckon the latest developments as an extension of the political vendetta pursued by the interim government led by Yunus against former PM and her supporters with a larger plan of keeping Awami League away from taking part in the national elections.
–IANS
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