Fakhrul, Abbas can’t get out of jail till 8 Jan

BNP Secretary General Mirza Fakhrul Islam Alamgir and Standing Committee Member Mirza Abbas cannot walk out of prison for now, according to the Attorney General's Office.

The chamber judge of the Supreme Court on Wednesday refused to stay a High Court order that granted them bail in a case over Nayapaltan clashes, and ordered that the counsels for the BNP leaders should not provide bail bonds for them before the lower court until 8 January.

Justice Jahangir Hossain Selim, a chamber judge of the Appellate Division of the Supreme Court, also referred the state's petition challenging the bail to the full bench of the court for hearing on 8 January.

On 3 January, the High Court granted bail to the two top BNP leaders for six months. Subsequently, the government applied for suspension of the bail order.

It will be known on 8 January whether the two leaders will be released from prison or not, according to their lawyers and the Attorney General's Office.

BNP activists clashed with police in Dhaka's Nayapaltan on 7 December last year, leaving one dead and scores injured. After the incident, cops raided the Naya Paltan BNP office, arrested more than 300 leaders and workers and filed around half a dozen cases against the opposition leaders and activists.

Fakhrul and Abbas were arrested on 8 December night in two separate drives to their residences.

The bail plea of Fakhrul and Abbas was turned down three times by the Chief Metropolitan Magistrate (CMM) court of Dhaka. Subsequently, the counsel for the BNP leaders applied for the bail with the High Court on Monday.

The High Court granted bail for six months after hearing that appeal. At the same time, the court also issued a four-week rule seeking as to why the BNP leaders will not be granted a permanent bail.

Pro-BNP lawyers have complained several times that the two leaders are not getting bail due to "interference" by the government and the law ministry. However, the law minister refuted such claims.