Bangladesh’s interim government on Monday announced a fast-track trial in the murder of activist Sharif Osman Hadi, hours after leaders of Inquilab Mancha threatened to derail the country’s next election
unless justice was delivered before polling.
At a press conference in front of the National Museum at Shahbagh, Inquilab Mancha member secretary Abdullah Al Jaber warned that no election would be acceptable without a completed trial in Hadi’s killing, declaring that the movement would take to the streets if the demand was ignored.
Osman Hadi, a key organiser of the so-called July uprising and convener of Inquilab Mancha, was shot by unidentified assailants on December 12 on Box Culvert Road in Dhaka’s Paltan area. He was airlifted to Singapore for treatment and died on December 18.
YUNUS THREATENED BY INQUILAB MANCHA
“No election before justice,” Jaber was quoted as saying by Prothom Alo, adding that the platform would announce its next course of action following a protest march from Shahbagh to the Central Shaheed Minar later in the day. He said the programme would determine whether Inquilab Mancha continued to support the interim administration or launched a broader movement against it.
Referring to interim government chief adviser Muhammad Yunus, Jaber said the Bangladeshi people had entrusted him with safeguarding the country’s freedom and sovereignty. While Yunus had expressed sympathy for Hadi at his funeral, Jaber said he had failed to spell out what steps would be taken to ensure justice.
“Before rushing into elections and then leaving, he must tell the people who made him helpless,” Jaber said. “Justice must come first. Then elections. No election before that.”
‘ROPE IN FBI, SCOTLAND YARD’
Jaber placed two core demands before the government: the formation of a special tribunal within 24 hours to try those responsible for Hadi’s killing and, if required, the involvement of international agencies such as the FBI or Scotland Yard to ensure a credible investigation.
Addressing the authorities, he demanded the immediate arrest of Hadi’s killers if they were in Bangladesh, and their extradition if they had fled abroad. He also announced that Inquilab Mancha would begin an open-ended street sit-in.
Hours later, the interim government moved to defuse the standoff.
Law adviser Asif Nazrul said the murder would be tried under a fast-track tribunal, effectively meeting the group’s primary demand. In a post on his verified Facebook page at 1:50 pm, as reported by Prothom Alo, Nazrul said the case would be transferred to a Speedy Trial Tribunal and completed within 90 days of the police submitting its report, in line with the Speedy Trial Tribunal Act, 2002.
