Update By Sajeeb Wazed Joy

Update

My mother is being detained under the Emergency Powers Rule, 2007, not under the criminal code of Bangladesh. There is no due process under the emergency powers. Right to bail and right to appeal are denied and the detention can be extended indefinitely even without a trial. Trials are conducted by special tribunals in camera (only the judge is present, there is no jury and the proceedings are closed to outside scrutiny) and summarily (normal procedures such as conducting discovery are not allowed.) This is a violation of international human rights laws, in particular Article 9 of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights.

No one is being allowed to visit her, not even relatives. She has no access to telephone or any other means of communication.

Over 200,000 individuals remain arrested for up to six months now under these Emergency Powers. Of these, only a dozen or so cases have gone to trial. One former minister has been sentenced by a special tribunal to 12 years imprisonment for possessing 21 bottles of alcohol in his home without paying import duties on them. No other charges were brought against him.

This is not justice. This arrest itself is illegal and a violation of all human rights.