Law enforcers yesterday arrested BNP lawmaker Syeda Asifa Ashrafi Papia, and two other pro-BNP lawyers in connection with a case filed on charges of assaulting police and preventing them from performing duties at the High Court on Tuesday.
The other two arrested are Barrister Abu Bakar Siddique and Advocate Towhidul Islam, said Additional Deputy Commissioner of Dhaka Metropolitan Police Masudur Rahman.
Masud said Shahbagh police and the Detective Branch jointly picked up the three from Bangladesh Bar Council area near the Supreme Court in the capital around 2:50pm, and took them to the DB office on Minto Road.
The arrests exacerbated the already tense situation on the apex court premises that had been going on since Tuesday.
On Tuesday an HC courtroom exploded into chaos after two judges observed that BNP Chairperson Khaleda Zia's recent comment on the constitution is tantamount to sedition.
Khaleda Zia had said her party will throw away the recently amended constitution as it has become an Awami League manifesto.
At one stage of the chaos, Papia, who is also a lawyer, allegedly hurled a plastic object at the judges, a charge she denies. Pro-BNP lawyers also assaulted some on-duty police personnel near the courtroom.
That night Shahbagh police filed a case against 14 identified lawyers including Papia on charge of assaulting police and preventing them from performing their duties at the High Court. Thirty to forty other unnamed persons were also implicated in the case.
Arrested barrister Abu Bakar Siddique's name was not among the 14 identified accused, said Masud yesterday.
On Wednesday, the HC in a suo moto order banned 13 of the 14 identified lawyers, including Papia, from practising in any court of the country.
A JUDGE FELT EMBARRASSED
A judge of an HC bench yesterday felt embarrassed to hear a bail petition filed by 13 accused lawyers.
The bench of Justice Nozrul Islam Chowdhury and Justice Anwarul Haque were hearing the bail petition.
At one stage Justice Nozrul Islam said Justice Anwarul Haque was embarrassed (unwilling) to hear the petition after hearing the argument of Attorney General Mahbubey Alam who told the court that the accused should not be granted bail because they showed disrespect to the HC judges.
Disrespect to HC judges amount to disrespect to the whole judiciary, the attorney general added.
After the judge felt embarrassed, a group of senior pro-BNP lawyers led by Khandker Mahbub Hossain, also the president of Supreme Court Bar Association (SCBA), met Chief Justice Md Muzammel Hossain in his office and informed him about the judge's unwillingness to hear the bail petition.
The chief justice told the lawyers that he will send the bail petition to another HC bench, Mahbub Hossain told reporters afterwards.
PRO-BNP LAWYERS' MOVE
Earlier in the day, senior pro-BNP lawyers met Justice Syed Mahmud Hossain, chamber judge of the Appellate Division of Supreme Court, in his office for permission to file a stay petition against the HC ban on the 13 lawyers.
Justice Syed Mahmud Hossain advised them to move the prayer on Sunday, Mahbub Hossain said.
POLICE ASSAULTED AGAIN
Some lawyers allegedly assaulted a police official yesterday around 3:40pm in the SCBA building.
The victim, MA Jalil, sub-inspector of Shahbagh Police Station and the investigation officer of the case, went there in plainclothes to find out the whereabouts of the accused.
"When I went there, Mohammad Ali, one of the 13 banned lawyers, challenged me to arrest him, and then he and 15 to 20 others assaulted me," Jalil told reporters.
In another development, today around 1:30am, the officer-in-charge of Shahbagh Police Station said another case has been filed accusing nine identified including Mohammad Ali and seven to eight unidentified lawyers in connection with the alleged police assault of yesterday afternoon.
SCBA president's official sources said Mohammad Ali had been at the office since the incident.
During a visit today around 1:00am, this correspondent found Mohammad Ali, also joint secretary of Jatiyatabadi Ainjibi Forum, surrounded by several pro-BNP lawyers, including barrister Mahbub Uddin Khokan MP at the office.
Talking to The Daily Star, Mohammad Ali said he could not go out fearing arrest and harassment by the law enforcers.
"As the court will remain close tomorrow [today], I will appeal to the chief justice, seeking anticipatory bail", he said. "Until I get bail, I will not move from here [SCBA president's office]."
"I did not assault any policeman. Rather, I tried to save him when he came under attack," he claimed. He said he does not know those who made the attack.
Asked whether Mohammad Ali would surrender to the law enforcers, Mahbub Uddin Khokan said, "There is no question of surrender as police is trying to falsely implicate him."
This correspondent saw around 30 uniformed policemen in and around the court in the early hours of today.
DEMONSTRATIONS
Pro-BNP lawyers brought out a procession led by Mahbub Uddin Khokon, secretary general of Jatiyatabadi Ainjibi Forum (JAF), from the Supreme Court gate protesting Papia's arrest yesterday.
Earlier the forum announced that its members and supporters will wear back ribbons and hold countrywide demonstrations on Sunday protesting the filing of the case against their fellow lawyers and the HC observation about Khaleda Zia's comment on the constitution.
They will also hold protest meetings at every bar association on Monday.
Barrister Rafiqul Islam Mia, president of JAF, announced the protest programmes at the SCBA office.
Source : The Daily Star
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