Photo : Collected
Bangladesh has expressed its displeasure to the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights Volker Turk over a recent letter to Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina and a press note on the country "without waiting for fuller information and facts."
"We expect that human rights mechanisms would give themselves adequate time before jumping to conclusions without the benefit of full facts to avoid the risks of being influenced by rumors and unverified information," according to Bangladesh's response to Turk on November 10.
The response mentioned that a press note was also "hurriedly released" from Turk's office on the same issue without consulting Bangladesh, and without taking into consideration the facts and figures the country provided along with "horrific images and video footage taken from neutral sources."
Guided by the obligations emanated from the constitution, Bangladesh side said that the government has been allowing and extending necessary cooperation to all political parties including Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP) to arrange assemblies, protests, processions etc.
In this spirit the government allowed mass assemblies convened by different political parties on October 28, 2023 on the streets of Dhaka despite the declared objective of a major opposition party - BNP - to create anarchy and disconnect Dhaka from other parts of Bangladesh as a pressure tactic, reads the letter.
In its reply, Bangladesh also mentioned that BNP Chairperson Khaleda Zia was convicted on corruption charges in two cases while a few other cases are ongoing - all of which were filed during the 2007-08 caretaker administration.
Considering her health condition, based on the application of her family members, Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina suspended her sentence under legal provision.
"Begum Khaleda Zia was offered a release for six months on conditions of (a) taking treatment in Bangladesh and (b) not leaving the country. She accepted the conditions under which she was released on 25 March 2020 and her release tenure was extended several times," said the government of Bangladesh.
Bangladesh in its reply also mentioned that she has been receiving treatment of the highest standard at the Evercare Hospital, one of the best hospitals in Bangladesh, as per her choice.
Messenger/Sun Yath
