Over 2,200 political prisoners get bail
Lawyers were prepared with bail bond before appeal
Over 2,200 political prisoners, including BNP and Jamaat-e-Islami leaders and activists arrested on charges related to violence during the quota reform movement in the capital, have been granted bail.
Judges of the Dhaka Chief Metropolitan Magistrate's Court on Tuesday granted the bails in separate orders, according to the registration branch of the court.
The accused who have been granted bail include BNP standing committee members Amir Khasru Mahmud Chowdhury, Nazrul Islam Khan, Senior Joint Secretary General Ruhul Kabir Rizvi.
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Besides, Bangladesh Jatiya Party Chairman Andaleev Rahman Partho, former Ducsu vice-president Nurul Haque Nur, former BRAC University lecturer Asif Mahtab, were also among those who got bail.
Md Arif, a lawyer representing Jamaat leaders, told The Business Standard that the court granted bail to top leaders including Central Secretary General Mia Golam Parwar and Nayeb-e-Ameer Syed Abdullah Mohammad Taher.
Court sources said that earlier in the day, lawyers learned the court would be granting bail for the arrestees. This led them to begin applying for bail for those arrested in political cases from the morning.
The lawyers also prepared the bail bonds in advance, which were promptly sent to the jail under special arrangements as soon as the bail orders were issued.
BNP's Salahuddin Ahmed plans return
Meanwhile, BNP Standing Committee member Salahuddin Ahmed on Tuesday said he will return home from Shillong, India, where he has been for the past nine years. He has received the necessary travel authorization to come back to Bangladesh and plans to do so in the next few days.
Salahuddin, a former state minister of communications, went missing from Uttara in Dhaka on 10 March 2015. He was found by local police in Shillong, Meghalaya, on 11 May 2015, after 62 days. Indian police reported that he had been arrested after being found roaming around Shillong.
Giasuddin Al Mamun gets bail
Several high-profile political figures arrested in various cases over time were also granted bail that day, including BNP leader Giasuddin Al Mamun, who had been jailed in an embezzlement case.
ACC court inspector Amir Hossain confirmed the bail. Mamun's lawyer, Helal Uddin, noted that his client had already served more time than his conviction warrants and expected his release soon.
Mamun, a close business associate of BNP's Tarique Rahman, was sentenced to seven years in prison and fined Tk12 crore for siphoning off £418,853 to the UK.
Arrested on 31 January 2007, during the military-backed caretaker government's term, Mamun has been in jail since then, facing various charges including extortion, corruption, money laundering, and tax evasion.
Tarique Rahman's former PS Apu freed
Mia Nooruddin Apu, the former private secretary to BNP Acting Chairman Tariq Rahman, was released on bail on Tuesday after spending about five years and seven months in prison.
He walked out of Kashimpur Central Jail around 8pm, said his lawyer and BNP Chairperson's advisor Masud Ahmed Talukder. Apu was freed as he got bail in two cases filed against him.
On 4 January 2019, members of the Rapid Action Battalion (RAB) arrested Mia Nooruddin Apu at United Hospital in the city. Apu had contested the 2018 national election as a BNP candidate from the Shariatpur-3 seat.
