Two of Bangladesh’s most senior opposition figures were freed from jail on Thursday, months after they were detained during a major government crackdown ahead of a general election.
Thousands of opposition party members and supporters were taken into custody last year before January’s poll, which Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina’s party swept in the absence of genuine competition.
Among them were Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP) General Secretary Mirza Fakhrul Islam Alamgir, 76, and former Commerce Minister Amir Khosru Mahmud Chowdhury, 74.
Party spokesman Sayrul Kabir Khan confirmed the release of both men to AFP and said Alamgir had told supporters outside hail that his party’s “struggle for democracy would continue”.
Alamgir was arrested in late October, a day after violent clashes between police officers and BNP protesters demanding Hasina’s resignation. Chowdhury was taken into custody several days later.
The duo are the party’s top figures in the country with chair Khaleda Zia, a two-time former premier, in ailing health and effectively under house arrest following a 2018 graft conviction.
Her son, Tarique Rahman, leads the party in exile from London, where he has resided since 2008.
The BNP and dozens of other parties boycotted January polls which they condemned as a “sham” designed to cement the rule of five-time premier Hasina.
The party said at least 25,000 of its members were arrested late last year in the government crackdown. A government minister said 11,000 were arrested.
Human Rights Watch said authorities had conducted mass arrests “in a clear attempt to quash the opposition and eliminate competition ahead of the general elections”.
Hasina’s ruling Awami League and its allies control almost every seat in parliament after the January poll, which was marred by low voter turnout.
