Bangladeshi lawyers join opposition's non-cooperation call in courts

By SM Najmus Sakib

DHAKA, Bangladesh (AA) – Hundreds of lawyers in Bangladesh on Tuesday boycotted courts as part of the "non-cooperation movement" called by the opposition parties.

Bangladesh will hold the 12th parliamentary elections on Jan. 7.

The opposition parties led by the Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP) announced to boycott the Sunday elections and initiated a non-cooperation movement, demanding the election under a neutral caretaker government.

They called the election “staged” and “dummy” to keep the ruling Awami League party in power for the straight 4th time.

“Lawyers have boycotted courts across the country and litigants are refraining from attending court proceedings, therefore courts have become almost non-functioning,” Barrister Kayser Kamal, legal affairs secretary of the BNP, told Anadolu.

The "authoritarian regime" used the courts as a tool to oppress the opposition leaders and activists, he alleged.

“Majority of the lawyers under separate opposition parties’ banners have joined the court boycott which has slowed down the court proceedings,” Shihab Uddin Khan, a Supreme Court lawyer, told Anadolu.

The movement is voluntary, so anyone can join or boycott the court, he added.

Meanwhile, the opposition parties on Tuesday began a 3-day fresh anti-election campaign, asking people not to go to the voting centers.

The ruling Awami League party continued its election campaign to encourage people to vote for its candidates.

Since political unrest erupted in late October, at least 26 opposition supporters have been killed, along with a journalist and a policeman.

More than 27,400 BNP supporters have so far been arrested in the turmoil. Over 1,290 others have been handed jail terms, according to opposition figures.