DU Prof. Karzon granted bail by HC

The High Court has granted bail to Dhaka University professor Hafizur Rahman Karzon in a case under the Anti-Terrorism Act filed at Shahbagh Police Station in Dhaka. On Monday, November 24, the High Court bench of Justice Md. Rasheduzzaman Raja and Justice Md. Rezaul Karim passed the order.

Karzon’s lawyer, Ali Ahmed Khokon, said that since no other case is pending against him, this order does not obstruct his release from prison.

Earlier, on August 29, the court had ordered the imprisonment of 16 people, including former Minister of Textiles and Jute Abdul Latif Siddiqui and Dhaka University professor Karzon, in the same Shahbagh police station Anti-Terrorism Act case.

The order was issued by Dhaka Metropolitan Magistrate Sarah Farzana Haque. The case was filed by SI Md. Amirul Islam of Shahbagh Police Station. According to the case, on August 28 at 10:00 am, a roundtable meeting was held at the Dhaka Reporters’ Unity auditorium under the banner of ‘Moncho 71’. At the meeting, Abdul Latif Siddiqui allegedly made conspiratorial statements inciting armed struggle to destabilise the country and overthrow the current interim government, and urged others to do the same. Police later detained 16 people out of 70–80 attendees.

During interrogation, the police learned that the organisation ‘Moncho 71’, formed on August 5, aimed to prepare citizens to resist attempts to distort the history of the Liberation War.

Other accused include Md. Abdullah Al Amin, 73; Manjurul Alam, 49; Kazi ATM Anisur Rahman Bulbul, 72; Golam Mostofa, 81; Md. Mohiul Islam alias Babu, 64; Md. Zakir Hossain, 74; Md. Tausiful Bari Khan, 72; Md. Amir Hossain Suman, 37; Md. Al Amin, 40; Md. Najmul Ahsan, 35; Syed Shahed Hasan, 36; Md. Shafiqul Islam Delwar, 64; Dewan Mohammad Ali, 50; and Md. Abdullahil Kaiyum, 61.