Rights body condemns forcing BNP leader to attend mother’s funeral in cuffs
Plaintiff denies knowing about the case the BNP leader faces
Rights group Ain O Shalish Kendra has criticised the authorities concerned for having a BNP leader, arrested over a ghost case, attend his mother's funeral in handcuffs and shackles in Gazipur.
Ali Azam was arrested on 2 December in a case over attacks on an office of the ruling Awami League party in Kaliakair upazila, Gazipur on 29 November, but in media statements the plaintiff later claimed to have no knowledge about the case.
Ali Azam, the president of the BNP unit in Boali union, Gazipur, requested the district administrator to release him on parole to attend the funeral rites of his mother who died on 18 December from old-age-complications, an Ain O Shalish Kendra press release reads.
Keep updated, follow The Business Standard's Google news channel
He was granted a three-hour parole but, contrary to legal provisions, was kept in handcuffs and shackles, and despite pleas to remove those during the funeral prayer, the police allegedly did not budge.
Even considering the case against Ali Azam is credible, he enjoys broad rights under Article 35 of the Constitution and a High Court order, the rights body said.
As per the Article 35, a person cannot be subjected to any form of sufferings or cruel, inhumane and humiliating treatment before the judges hand down sentences or declare convictions, and Ali Azam was squarely denied this provision, Ain O Kendra noted.
The High Court directives on shackling an accused person was also not followed during Ali Azam's parole, the rights organisation claimed.
Since Ali Azam has been accused under a ghost case, his treatment by authorities was cruel, inhumane and violates basic human rights, the organisation claimed.
