DHAKA: Bangladesh’s interim authorities has banned all actions of the Awami League, the political get together of deposed former Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina, underneath the nation’s Anti-Terrorism Act, citing nationwide safety considerations.
The choice, introduced late Saturday (Might 10), follows days of street protests led by the student-driven Nationwide Citizen Occasion, which emerged from final yr’s rebellion that toppled Hasina.
A number of Islamist and right-wing events, together with Jamaat-e-Islami and different opposition teams, joined the demonstrations, demanding the Awami League be designated a terrorist organisation.
The ban would stay in place till the trial of the get together and its management over deaths of a whole lot of protesters on the Worldwide Crimes Tribunal is accomplished, the federal government mentioned in an announcement.
The federal government additionally introduced an modification to the ICT Act, permitting the tribunal to prosecute not solely people but in addition political events and organisations. The change clears the best way for the Awami League to be tried as a collective entity for alleged crimes dedicated throughout its time in energy.
The Awami League, which was based in 1949, dismissed the choice as illegitimate, posting on its official Fb web page: “All choices of the unlawful authorities are unlawful.”
The nation has seen rising tensions and protests in latest months, after lethal protests compelled Hasina to flee to India in August and an interim authorities led by Nobel Peace laureate Muhammad Yunus took cost.
Yunus pledged reforms and mentioned the ballot could possibly be delayed till 2026.
The unrest started in July with pupil protests towards public sector job quotas, however shortly morphed into one of many deadliest durations of political violence since Bangladesh’s independence in 1971.
In October, the federal government banned the Awami League’s pupil wing, Bangladesh Chhatra League, labeling it a “terrorist organisation” for its position in violent assaults on protesters.
