Demeaning war martyrs: Khaleda denied bail

Now in jail for about six months, BNP Chairperson Khaleda Zia has been denied bail in a case filed over demeaning Liberation War martyrs.

Dhaka’s Metropolitan Magistrate Abu Sayeed passed the order after Khaleda’s lawyer Masud Ahmed Talukder submitted a petition seeking bail in the case.

Earlier, on July 11 the same court issued arrest warrants for BNP Chairperson Khaleda Zia and party's senior leader Goyeshwar Chandra Roy in the case.

In January 2016, AB Siddique, president of Bangladesh Jananetri Parishad, a pro-Awami League organisation, filed the case over alleged insulting remarks on the Liberation War martyrs.

Taking cognizance of the allegation, another court directed the officer-in-charge of Shahbagh Police Station to investigate the matter and submit a report.

On December 21 in 2015, Khaleda, in her first public address in more than a year, said, “There are controversies over how many were martyred in the Liberation War.”

Two days later, a Supreme Court lawyer served a legal notice on Khaleda, asking her to apologise to the nation within seven days or face legal consequences for her comments.

On December 25 the same year, in a flurry of outrageous remarks, Goyeshwar described the 1971 martyred intellectuals as "anti-liberation elements" who "died like fools" and drew salaries and allowances from Pakistan till the end of the war.

Different newspapers published the news items citing their comments which defamed the image of the freedom fighters who sacrificed themselves for liberating the country in 1971, said the complainant.