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Raw deal for the innocent

Cops violate HR, constitution to arrest thousands ahead of AL's siege plan

Star Report
Police and the court following the dictum of the power that be swung into unprecedented actions of human rights and constitution violations last week to foil the Awami League's plan to lay rsiege to Hawa Bhaban.
From Monday to Wednesday, police arrested at least 5,000 people without any charge from the different bus, train and launch terminals on their arrival in the city. They also raided select hotels during the 'crackdown' to thwart concentration of AL activists for the siege programme.
Indoingso, police violated the High Court ruling tha t the infamous Section 54 of the Criminal Procedure Code (CrPc) that empowers the law enforcers to arrest under suspicion should be used judiciously. Even if arrested, the persons must be sent to the court within 24 hours and their relatives be informed about the arrests within that time.
But none of these dictums were followed when police swungintowholcsalearrests.
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Advocate Sultana Kamal, executive director of Ain O Salish Kendro, a human rights organisation, has termed the police action as a gross violation of human rights, the constitution and the High Court ruling.
Worse still, the court itself violated the law when it sentenced scores to three-day imprisonment each without the arrestees being produced before it.
Sigma Huda, secretary general of Manobodhikar Bastabayan Sangstha, another human rights watchdog, has expressed her deep concern over such violations.
The mass arrests also provided a chance for the police to make a windfall in bribes. Many reported that they paid the law enforcers to get off their hook. Kohinoor Begum of Maghbazar described to The Daily Star how she was picked up and then let go by police in exchange for money Wednesday.
"I am a private tutor. I was picked up from the Maghbazar residence of an Awami League leader where I stay. I was confused and frightened. I begged them for mercy. But they said they would only let me off if I paid them money. I begged them that I am a poor woman and have no extra cash. Even then, I had to pay Ramna police Tk 500 to get myself free," said Kohinoor.
A 16-year-old boy who did not want to be named said he was picked up when he came to Airport
Rail Station from Chittagong and sent to the custody. His brother then had to pay Tk 1,000 to police to get him free.
Lockups of all the 22 police stations of the capital were full with the arrestees. Relatives thronged to the police stations but were not allowed to enter.
Most of the arrestees were taken to the Razarbagh Police Lines ground after Tuesday night and later sent to court on Wednesday.
The courts went into overdrives and worked through out Tuesday and Wednesday night to convict the arrestees. The huge pressure of cases dragged the procedures on, leaving the people waiting in intense heat without food and water in cramped lockups. Many of them passed out.
The arrested were also made to sit outside the court prison cells, which can hold only 96 persons, because of space constraints. The court inspectors and police in the General Records section of the court prepared files against he arrestees without any documents.
The authorities of the already crammed Dhaka Central Jail are struggling to accommodate the newcomers. With a capacity of 2500 inmates, the jail usually houses 10,000 prisoners. With the weeklong spate of arrests, the number has shot up to 13,000.