The use of State Apparatus and Judiciary to hold a Farcical Election in Bangladesh: A case study on the candidature of Barrister Shahjahan Omar

Prepared by HR Team BNP

BNP had been claiming with credible news links and news reports that the authoritarian regime had orchestrated the acts of arsons, attack on the Chief Justice’s house, killing people and using of sound grenades on 28 October, 2023, under a blue print upon using the State Apparatus. BNP had categorically asserted that these have been done by the
fascist regime only to pave their way to prolong their power through another farcical election. In order to execute their blue print, police lodged several false, fictitious, baseless and politically motivated cases against top BNP leaders all over the Country, arrested the Secretary General and many top leaders in those cases and detained them
in custody. The widely perceived Judiciary has been seen to have denied the bail of the BNP leaders in those cases. However, the subordinate Judiciary has made an exception to the case of Barrister Shahjahan Omar, who has been granted bail under a shadow deal with the government and pursuant to his release, he has joined Awami League and is contesting in the farcical election.

It is well known to everyone that amid the crackdown upon the pro-democratic leaders and activists all across the country before, during and after the 28th October Grand Assembly called by Bangladesh Nationalist Party-BNP, Barrister Muhammad Shahjahan Omar, recently expelled Vice-President of BNP Central Executive Committee, was arrested in the early hours of 5th November, 2023 in connection with one of the aforesaid politically motivated cases and then he was taken to a four-day police remand through court and after the police remand he was sent to jail custody refusing his prayer for bail. At the time of the hearing, Barrister Shahjahan Omar, who is also a lawyer of the Supreme Court of Bangladesh, said to the Court that: “I am a freedom fighter. I’m 76 years old now. We all know remand means a certain kind of mental torture. Is it necessary to take a person like me on remand? I’ve diabetes and various other old age complications.” Since then he was detained in jail custody.

All on a sudden, the whole nation witnessed that on 29th November, Barrister Omar has been granted bail by a subordinate Court in Dhaka and he has been released from custody on the same day at around 6 PM from Kashimpur Central Jail, reportedly even before his bail order reached there, while in ordinary circumstances, it takes at least 24 hours to release an accused after the bail order. However, right after his release, Barrister Shahjahan Omar met Awami League President and the authoritarian Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina Wazed at her official residence, Ganabhavan, there he joined Awami League and was given nomination in the constituency of Jhalakathi-1 for the upcoming farcical election.

The aforesaid facts of Barrister Shahjahan Omar have exposed the ugly face of the regime and has demonstrated how the State Apparatus and the Judiciary is being used by them. BNP secretary General and other senior political leaders of BNP are charged with similar allegations but they are denied bail by the Courts below inasmuch as they denied to participate in the farcical election.

It has been claimed by BNP over the period that almost all the arrested BNP leaders have been made subjected to cruel, inhumane and degrading treatment in the custody, specifically causing mental torture during police remand and in in jail custody. They have been put under pressure to join in the farcical election but most of the leaders
denied to their proposals and sustaining the cruel, inhumane and degrading treatment. BNP, accompanied by most of the political parties in Bangladesh, having the trust the millions of people are still involved in the democratic movement in a peaceful manner to restore democracy upon ending the authoritarian regime.

Prepared by HR Team BNP  01.12.2023

News Links:
➢ Prothom Alo (en): “Vice chairman Shahjahan Omar detained, says BNP”
(5.11.2023)
➢ Prothom Alo (en): “BNP leader Shahjahan Omar put on remand in bus torching
case” (5.11.2023)
➢ Prothom Alo (en): “BNP leader Shahjahan Omar walks out of jail” (29.11.2023)
➢ Prothom Alo (en): “BNP leader Shahjahan Omar gets AL ticket a day after
coming out of jail” (30.11.2023)
➢ The Daily Star on Facebook: Video of Barrister Shahjahan Omar’s Press Briefing
on 30.11.2023
➢ Somoy News on Facebook: Video of Barrister Shahjahan Omar’s Press Briefing
on 30.11.2023
➢ NewAgeBD: “BNP expels Shahjahan Omar for ‘serious breach of party
discipline’” (30.11.2023)