BD police arrest Hasina-era former parliament speaker

Chaudhury has not been seen in public since a deadly mass uprising in 2024 forced Hasina from power

Bangladeshi police arrested the former parliament speaker on Tuesday on attempted murder charges, marking the first detention of a prominent figure from Sheikh Hasina’s toppled government under the newly elected one.

Shirin Sharmin Chaudhury, the South Asian nation’s first female speaker, who also served as minister in Hasina’s administration, was arrested at a relative’s residence and held in custody.

She has denied all charges and “it is absurd to suggest that she was involved in an attempted murder”, her lawyer Shamim Al Sayeed told AFP, adding that the court had rejected their petition for bail.

Chaudhury had not been seen in public since a deadly mass uprising in 2024 forced Hasina from power.

She joins scores of members of Hasina’s now-banned Awami League to be arrested since her downfall in cases relating to the failed crackdown on the uprising.

Read: Sheikh Hasina, former Bangladesh PM, sentenced to death

Investigators told the court on Tuesday that Chaudhury was a key figure in decision-making, alleging she was involved in planning and ordering attacks on unarmed civilians.

Police Inspector Mohsin Uddin told the court that on July 18, 2024, police, alongside Awami League activists, opened fire on unarmed students and other protesters.

Tarique Rahman, leader of the Bangladesh Nationalist Party, won a landslide election victory in February, taking over from the interim administration that had led the country of 170 million people since the uprising.

Hasina, a convicted fugitive in hiding in India, was also named in the same case. Her case has strained relations between Dhaka and New Delhi.

Bangladesh’s Foreign Minister Khalilur Rahman is due to visit India on Tuesday as part of a “goodwill visit” to build relations.