Bangladesh

US court stays warrants for Salehuddin, Ahsan

Salehuddin Ahmed, left, and Ahsan H Mansur

A US court on Friday stayed the arrest warrants for Bangladesh Finance Adviser Salehuddin Ahmed and Bangladesh Bank Governor Ahsan H Mansur.

Mushfiqul Fazal Ansarey, who has recently been appointed as an ambassador with the rank of a senior secretary, confirmed this to The Daily Star over the phone from Washington yesterday.

The development comes a day after US District Judge Carl J Nichols had issued "bench warrants for the arrest" of Salehuddin and Ahsan, whom a power company wants to testify, as it seeks to enforce a collective $31.9 million in arbitration awards against Bangladesh.

The judge directed the US Marshals Service to detain the two as they were visiting Washington to attend the annual meetings of the International Monetary Fund and the World Bank Group, held on October 21-26.

The court had ordered the clerk to issue the warrants as a contempt sanction against Bangladesh.

"The US court had no jurisdiction to issue such arrest warrants for these officials. However, through the stay order of the court, the issue has been suspended," said Mushfiqul.

The interim government cannot take responsibility for the misdeeds committed by the previous regime, he said on Facebook, adding that those who tried to put the issue under carpet should face action.

Law360, a New York-based legal news publisher, reported on Friday that the move by the US court prompted an immediate appeal from the Bangladesh government.

The Bangladesh government said it is "unprecedented" that a Washington, DC federal judge ordered the arrest of two high-ranking Bangladeshi officials to force their depositions in a power company's lawsuit.

The motion said, "Petitioner did not cite a single example of a court enforcing a sanctions order against a foreign state, much less ordering the arrest of high-ranking foreign government officials during a diplomatic visit to the United States. The lack of precedent is not surprising, as such an action is, or at least was, unimaginable."

Bangladesh condemned the judge's decision, Law360 said.

The dispute has its origins in 1997, when Smith Cogeneration signed a power purchase agreement with the Bangladesh government and its Power Development Board that provided for the construction of a barge-mounted power plant in northern Bangladesh.

Smith Cogeneration told the DC court in its 2006 enforcement petition that the government agreed to provide the company with all the required permits to complete the project, according to the Law360 report.

However, the government nixed the project in 1999 and never provided the company with the necessary permits, Smith Cogeneration claimed.

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US court stays warrants for Salehuddin, Ahsan

Salehuddin Ahmed, left, and Ahsan H Mansur

A US court on Friday stayed the arrest warrants for Bangladesh Finance Adviser Salehuddin Ahmed and Bangladesh Bank Governor Ahsan H Mansur.

Mushfiqul Fazal Ansarey, who has recently been appointed as an ambassador with the rank of a senior secretary, confirmed this to The Daily Star over the phone from Washington yesterday.

The development comes a day after US District Judge Carl J Nichols had issued "bench warrants for the arrest" of Salehuddin and Ahsan, whom a power company wants to testify, as it seeks to enforce a collective $31.9 million in arbitration awards against Bangladesh.

The judge directed the US Marshals Service to detain the two as they were visiting Washington to attend the annual meetings of the International Monetary Fund and the World Bank Group, held on October 21-26.

The court had ordered the clerk to issue the warrants as a contempt sanction against Bangladesh.

"The US court had no jurisdiction to issue such arrest warrants for these officials. However, through the stay order of the court, the issue has been suspended," said Mushfiqul.

The interim government cannot take responsibility for the misdeeds committed by the previous regime, he said on Facebook, adding that those who tried to put the issue under carpet should face action.

Law360, a New York-based legal news publisher, reported on Friday that the move by the US court prompted an immediate appeal from the Bangladesh government.

The Bangladesh government said it is "unprecedented" that a Washington, DC federal judge ordered the arrest of two high-ranking Bangladeshi officials to force their depositions in a power company's lawsuit.

The motion said, "Petitioner did not cite a single example of a court enforcing a sanctions order against a foreign state, much less ordering the arrest of high-ranking foreign government officials during a diplomatic visit to the United States. The lack of precedent is not surprising, as such an action is, or at least was, unimaginable."

Bangladesh condemned the judge's decision, Law360 said.

The dispute has its origins in 1997, when Smith Cogeneration signed a power purchase agreement with the Bangladesh government and its Power Development Board that provided for the construction of a barge-mounted power plant in northern Bangladesh.

Smith Cogeneration told the DC court in its 2006 enforcement petition that the government agreed to provide the company with all the required permits to complete the project, according to the Law360 report.

However, the government nixed the project in 1999 and never provided the company with the necessary permits, Smith Cogeneration claimed.

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