Tuesday, May 21, 2002
Tuesday, May 21, 2002 |
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By Haroon Habib
The "pro-liberation" lawyers of the country, otherwise divided on several issues, have recently formed a unity organisation called Sammilita Ainjibi Parisad (SAP), a broad-based national lawyers' body. This platform has captured all but two of the country's 58 bar councils in recent elections, indicating that the number of "pro-government" lawyers has declined. The SAP also swept the recent elections of the Bangladesh Supreme Court Bar Association, where pro-Government lawyers earlier dominated. A leading lawyer and SAP convener, Amir-Ul-Islam, said that members of the legal profession were alarmed over the "rampant violation" of human rights and growing acts of terrorism in the country, following the general election last October. While lawyers belonging to the SAP have been critical about civil order — including what they saw as the Government's "continued" victimisation of political opponents and repression of minorities — they have also come down hard on the country's Chief Justice, Mahmudul Amin Chowdhury. At the first-ever national convention of lawyers, Mr. Chowdhury was openly criticised for his recent meeting with the Prime Minister, Begum Khaleda Zia, where he demanded an increase in the upper age limit for judges. A declaration adopted at the convention has "strongly condemned the unconventional attitude" of the Chief Justice, while many lawyers have suggested a boycott of his court. The convention has also blamed Mr. Chowdhury for presiding over court sessions while his "prayer" for the age-limit extension is still under consideration. The Law Ministry, however, came out with a clarification, saying that the Chief Justice had merely made a "courtesy call" on the Prime Minister. The declaration spoke on growing acts of terrorism. The latest attempt by the Government to stem the sliding civil order situation, particularly in Dhaka, has not achieved any significant results. The convention directly blamed Ms. Khaleda's Government for making Bangladesh a "police state", for misusing several laws — including the highly criticised Special Powers Act — and for torturing political prisoners. The declaration also demanded "immediate completion" of the trial of the "killers of Bangabandhu", referring to the "repeated embarrassments" of the judges to conduct the country's sensational trial of the assassination of its founding father, Sheikh Mujibur Rahman. The trial, now in the appellate division, has nearly gone into cold storage. The lawyers also blamed the administration for not keeping up with its commitment to separate the judiciary and executive branches of the Government. They also called upon the people to remain alert against what they saw as the Government's move to place the services of magistrates under the control of the judiciary and to insist that judges be appointed directly from the judicial service.
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