The opposition Nationalist Party of Bangladesh denounced this Friday the arrest of two of its main leaders, including the party’s general secretary, Mirza Fakhrul, one day before a large march called by the formation against the Government.
The arrest occurred in the early hours of today when policemen in civilian clothes appeared at the houses of Mirza Fakhrul, and the member of the permanent committee of the party Mirza Abbas, the BNP spokesman, Zahir Uddin Shwapan, told EFE.
“The police did not give any reason why they were taken and only said that they had been taken by order of a high authority,” he said.
According to Fakhrul’s wife, Rahat Ara Begum, four policemen came to his house at night and took him away. “They told us that two or three cases were filed against him between yesterday and the day before yesterday,” she said in a video released by the BNP’s press wing.
Dhaka police chief detective Harun-ur-Rashid told reporters that Mirza Fakhrul and Mirza Abbas were taken to his office for questioning in connection with a clash between protesters and police that took place last Wednesday in in which a protester was killed.
“Mirza Fakhrul and Mirza Abbas are now in custody. We are interrogating them. After the interrogation we will be able to say what decision will be made about them, ”he said.
Fakhrul is the most senior opposition leader in the absence of the party’s chairwoman, former Prime Minister Khaleda Zia, and her exiled son Tarique Rahman.
Zia, who was jailed for 10 years on a corruption charge, is prohibited from participating in political activities or leaving the country after her conditional release in March by government order.
The alleged arrest of Fakhrul and Abbas came a day before the BNP is due to hold a large rally in Dhaka, protesting against rising commodity prices, demanding Zia’s unconditional release and an interim government at the time of the elections.
The clash between the police and BNP militants, last Wednesday in front of the party’s headquarters in the Bangladeshi capital, left at least one person dead and dozens injured.
The United Nations and the United States are among a list of agencies and countries that have raised concerns about the violence ahead of the BNP rally.
“The Bangladeshi authorities must guarantee the right to peaceful assembly and refrain from using excessive force against protesters,” the UN special rapporteur on freedom of assembly, Clément Nyaletsossi Voule, said on Twitter.