| Sheikh Hasina was arrested and sent to jail Monday after a Dhaka court rejected her bail prayer.
She was kept at a house at the Jatiya Sangsad Bhaban premises, which authorities declared as a special jail, inspector general, prisons.
Security forces led away Hasina at 7:31am Monday to Chief Metropolitan Magistrate's Court for Dhaka after surrounding the Sudha Sadan home of the feisty Awami League president for three hours from 4:30am.
Hasina was taken to the court of magistrate Kamrunnahar in an extortion case that involves about Tk 3 crore, filed by Azam J Chowdhury, managing director of Eastcoast Trading Limited, on June 13.
Awami League leader Sheikh Fazlul Karim Selim was also accused in the same case filed with Gulshan Police Station.
"Don't cry," Hasin said to a crying lawyer after she arrived at the court.
"They want to stop me taking part in elections," the 59-year-old leader told lawyers.
Law adviser Mainul Hosein told bdnews24.com that Hasina had been arrested on clear charges.
"I heard about her arrest. She has been facing a number of cases. Awami League leaders and activists also backed the cases against her."
Awami League presidium member Motia Chowdhury said: "Nobody will accept it. It's political harassment."
"It's not an attack on my mother, it's an attack on Bangladesh's independence," Hasina's son Sajeeb Wazed Joy said over telephone from Washington.
"Enemies raised their heads once again as they did in 1971, but this time from within the country."
"Join us to fight the enemies. Our struggle is for the future of the country, our struggle is for democracy," he said.
"I am in Washington. I will do everything possible for my mother. I received too many phone calls. All expressed the same concern."
"Not only Bangladesh, the whole world is with us," Joy said
When Hasina was being led away from her home in a dark-blue Nissan Patrol car with tinted glass, the former prime minister waved at people and smiled. Earlier, at 4:53am she said, "I did no wrong, neither did my family."
As Hasina said, there was a sound of knocking on the door and somebody was heard saying, "They've come and want to get in."
Hasina told him: "Tell them I'm coming after saying my prayers."
RAB and police sealed off all the entry points to the Dhanmondi home and cordoned it while the policewomen went in.
Several hundred RAB and police officers arrived at the Dhanmondi road no. 5 home at 4:45am, accompanied by plainclothes officers carrying ropes and pliers.
Some 50 vehicles including 15 buses, two prison vans and three ambulances waited outside the home in the wee hours amid driving rains.
Hasina's husband Dr M Wajed Mia was at home. Her private security officials retired major general Tareque Ahmed Siddique, retired brigadier general Ziauddin, retired majors Kibria and Iqbal, the driver and maids were also inside Sudha Sadan.
"The country witnessed good governance in the five years of AL rule. Prices of essentials were under control," the former prime minister said.
The 59-year-old leader said she had ruled the country with honesty.
"I can personally say that no-one in my family nor I was involved in extortion. In the last five years, the BNP-led government looked for our mistakes, but couldn't find any."
"Why should we be harassed? This government is the outcome of our movement. Why would the rights of the people be revoked?" the AL chief said, who faces charges of corruption and political killing.
The pre-dawn raid at Hasina's home came as senior Awami League leader Syeda Sajeda Chowdhury Sunday said the party president would come out of her home every day in defiance of the alleged curbs on her movement.
Chief Metropolitan Magistrate's Court for Dhaka on June 14 asked police and the immigration to stop Hasina going abroad for the sake of investigation into two extortion cases against the former prime minister.
She was scheduled to fly to the US on June 15 to see her relatives.
The military-backed interim government on April 18 slapped restrictions on Hasina's homecoming and said her return might create further confusion and hatred—a charge that baffled the AL chief.
Authorities had earlier accused her of making ``inflammatory statements'' about the interim government while abroad, and warned that her return might create further confusion and triggered hatred among people.
The government also asked all airline operators and civil aviation officials not to take Hasina back to Dhaka.
On April 22, she was denied a boarding pass by British Airways to fly to Dhaka from London. But she vowed to come back to "her own country".
Following Hasina's defiant announcement, an interim adviser warned that legal actions would be taken against the AL president if she came back.
On May 7, the daughter of independence leader Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman arrived home ending a 51-day stay overseas after the makeshift administration softened its position.
She was charged with murder on April 11 while she was in the United States.
On April 22, a Dhaka court issued an order to arrest Hasina in a murder case filed by a Jamaat-e-Islami leader.
The murder case involves the deaths of four protesters belonged to BNP ally Jamaat-e-Islami in an October 28 political riot in Dhaka.
On April 9, Tajul Islam Faruk from Habiganj filed a Tk 3 crore extortion case against her.
On June 13, businessman Noor Ali filed a Tk 5 crore case with Tejgaon Police Station and Azam J Chowdhury, managing director of Eastcoast Trading Limited, filed another case of Tk 2.95 crore against Hasina and AL leader Sheikh Fazlul Karim Selim with Gulshan Police Station.
Leftists not happy
The country's left political parties Monday criticised the arrest, saying it would raise questions about the government's motives.
"The arrest will raise questions. It will make the situation more complex. We expect that the government will explain the reasons behind the arrest," Rashed Khan Menon, president of Workers Party of Bangladesh, said.
"It's unfortunate. The caretaker government had earlier said that no one would be arrested even if there were cases. She is a former prime minister of the country. The court could have summoned her."
Mujahidul Islam Selim, general secretary of the Communist Party of Bangladesh, said the legal procedure must be transparent in dealing with the issue.
Selim said that it would be undemocratic if she was arrested to materialise politically motivated goals.
Hasanul Haque Inu, president of Jatiya Samajtantrik Dal, said that Sheikh Hasina is a former prime minister and was not running away.
"It's sad. The arrest was not necessary," Inu said. |
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