The leader of the biggest religious-political party in Bangladesh, Jamaat-i-Islami, was freed on Tuesday, according to officials. He had been detained by counterterrorism officers for 15 months after he had promised to participate in anti-government demonstrations.
Shafiqur Rahman, the leader of Jamaat-i-Islami, was released in January, coinciding with a reduction in political unrest following Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina’s fourth consecutive election victory.
Just hours before Ramadan began in the nation of Muslims, Rahman, 65, was freed on Monday from a maximum-security prison outside of the capital Dhaka, party spokesperson Matiur Rahman Akand told AFP.
He added, “The high court granted him bail.”
Following his announcement that his party will join other opposition parties in widespread protests to remove Hasina, Rahman was detained in December 2022, and numerous cases were lodged against him.
“There are 37-38 cases against Rahman in total, but he was kept as a suspect in an anti-terrorism case,” Akand told AFP.
For many years, the main opposition Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP) had Jamaat-i-Islami as a major ally. Jamaat-i-Islami is the largest Muslim organization in the nation and its third-largest political party.
It was a member of the coalition that governed the nation between 2001 and 2006.
The party was prohibited from running for office in 2012 when Hasina took office, and the party’s leaders were detained and put on trial for war crimes stemming from the nation’s 1971 independence struggle against Pakistan.
The party asserted that political motivations were behind the trials.
After being found guilty by a war crimes court, five of its top commanders were executed by hanging between 2013 and 2016, which incited violent demonstrations.
An enormous number of Jamaat and BNP members were detained prior to the January 7 polls, which solidified Hasina’s hold on power in the nation. Low voter turnout and a broad boycott by the opposition tainted the vote.
Nearly all of the BNP’s officials and activists have been released on bail after Hasina’s election.
