Thirteen pro-opposition lawyers were yesterday released from Dhaka Central Jail, hours after they obtained bail in two cases filed for assaulting police and obstructing their work.
Of the cases, one was filed on August 2 following chaos during a High Court hearing on a writ petition on Islami Oikya Jote Chairman Fazlul Haq Amini's remarks about the constitution. The other was filed on August 4.
The 13 are Syeda Asifa Ashrafi Papia, Gazi Kamrul Islam Sajal, Shahiduzzaman, Mirza Al Mahmud, Sharif Uddin Ahmed, Abdullah Al Mahmud, Enamul Hossain Gaffar, Mohammad Ali, Mohammad Ashrafuzzaman Khan, Golam Nobi, Gazi Towhidul Islam, Mahmudul Arefin and Abu Bakar Siddique.
Papia, Towhidul and Abu Bakar are also accused in a case filed on June 4 on charges of torching a vehicle on the eve of the opposition's hartal. They got bail in that case as well.
The three were arrested on August 4 for assaulting police. The remaining 10 accused lawyers were sent to jail following their surrender before a court on Sunday.
Earlier on August 14, the HC pardoned and exonerated the 13 lawyers from contempt charges after they apologised for staging noisy protests in the courtroom on August 2.
Judges AHM Shamsuddin Chowdhury Manik and Gobinda Chandra Tagore also withdrew their earlier order that banned the lawyers from practising at any court in the country.
Meanwhile, Supreme Court Bar Association President Khandker Mahbub Hossain yesterday urged the government to send lawyer MU Ahmed abroad for better treatment. Ahmed suffered a heart attack after police arrested him on August 11. He is now undergoing treatment in police custody at the National Institute of Cardiovascular Diseases.
Source : The Daily Star
