The interim government has said they remain committed to accountability and justice, and will be working with partners around the world to return the stolen funds to the people of Bangladesh. "The theft of billions of dollars in public funds has left Bangladesh with a significant financial deficit," said the government in a statement issued by Chief Adviser's press wing on Tuesday night. The funds stolen from Bangladesh belong to its people, said the interim government, stressing that they will continue to work with their international partners to ensure that justice is done. Chief Adviser Professor Muhammad Yunus has already expressed the views of the vast majority of Bangladesh’s citizens. He said property and assets tied to stolen Bangladeshi funds, including those linked to individuals with connections to the previous regime, must be investigated thoroughly. "If proven to have benefited from embezzlement, we expect those assets to be returned to Bangladesh, where they rightfully belong." As Professor Yunus told The Sunday Times of London, Tulip Siddiq may not have entirely understood the source of the money and property that she was enjoying in London, but she knows now and should seek forgiveness from the people of Bangladesh. Read: US welcomes Interim Government’s steps toward election readiness The interim government is actively working with international law enforcement agencies to investigate and recover funds stolen from the people of Bangladesh. Such collaboration is vital to dismantle transnational networks of financial crime. "We hope and expect all friendly governments, including the UK, to stand with the people of Bangladesh in seeking justice for these crimes," said the interim government, adding that corruption hurts everyone other than those who perpetrate it – and some of their favoured relatives and cronies. The ongoing investigation into the $5 billion misappropriation linked to the Rooppur Nuclear Power Plant underscores the scale of corruption under the previous government, the statement reads. Read more: Holding election not the sole responsibility of interim government: Nahid The misuse of public resources in this and other projects has not only robbed the people of Bangladesh but also disrupted the country’s progress toward economic stability, said the interim government.

Students of Manikganj Government Women's College held a human chain on Sunday demanding exemplary punishment of those responsible for the death of a female student. The victim Tanushree Roy was a first-year student in the Bengali department of the college. Her classmates, along with hundreds of students from other departments, gathered in front of the Deputy Commissioner's office at noon demanding a proper investigation into Tanushree's death and justice for the victim. After the human chain, the students marched in protest and submitted a memorandum to the Deputy Commissioner and the Superintendent of Police. Constable Sujan shown arrested in Chankharpul killing case Tanushree Roy, daughter of Dinabandhu Roy from Dakshin Chailla area in Manikganj Sadar upazila, married Atunu Biswas, son of Atal Biswas from Bongram area of Manikganj Municipality on October 3, 2024, said her father. .Since the marriage, Tanushree used to physically and mentally tortured by her in-laws, who also restricted her contact with her family and prevented her from using her mobile phone. S.M. Aman Ullah, the officer-in-charge (OC) of Manikganj Sadar Police Station, said that a case was filed at the police station based on the complaint from the deceased's father for inciting suicide. Following the case, Tanushree’s husband, Atunu Biswas, and his in-laws were arrested and sent to jail, he added. DMP files 1702 cases for traffic rules violation Earlier on Thursday night, police recovered the body of Tanushree Roy hanging from a fan with a scarf around her neck, at her husband's residence in Bongram area of Manikganj Municipality.

Protesters in Syria held a sit-in Wednesday demanding justice for four activists who were forcibly disappeared in 2013 and whose fate remains one of the most haunting mysteries of the country's 13-year civil war. On Dec. 9, 2013, gunmen stormed the Violation Documentation Center in Douma, northeast of Damascus, and took Razan Zaitouneh, her husband Wael Hamadeh, Samira Khalil and Nazem Hammadi. Outspoken and defiantly secular, Zaitouneh was one of Syria’s most well-known human rights activists. Perhaps most dangerously, she was impartial. She chanted in protests against then-President Bashar Assad but was also unflinching in documenting abuses by rebels fighting to oust him. There has been no sign of life nor proof of death since she and her colleagues were abducted. Since the ouster of Assad on Dec. 8, protests have erupted across Syria demanding information about thousands of people who were forcibly disappeared under his rule. The new leadership under the Islamist group Hayat Tahrir al-Sham, which orchestrated the offensive to oust Assad, has maintained a neutral stance regarding accusations against various armed groups for forcibly disappearing activists. At the same time, HTS has aligned with activists in their efforts to uncover the truth and seek justice. “We are gathering here to remind the world of their case,” Yassin Haj Saleh, Khalil’s husband, said Wednesday, adding that the disappearance of activists represents “the deepest wounds” of Syria’s conflict. “This is the first opportunity that allows us to be in Douma, and in front of the place that they were kidnapped from, to speak up about the case, taking advantage of the political change that took place in the country.” Saleh said they had repeatedly appealed to various armed groups for cooperation in finding the four activists in the years before Assad's ouster but were met with silence. Strong clues had pointed to the Army of Islam, the most powerful rebel faction in Douma at the time, as the perpetrators. The group, made up of religious hard-liners who were pushing out other rebels and imposing strict Shariah rules, long denied involvement. An Army of Islam official, Hamza Bayraqdar, told The Associated Press in 2018 they brought Zaitouneh to Douma to protect her from the Assad government. Read: Iran's supreme leader says Syrian youth will resist incoming government The Army of Islam repeatedly blamed the Assad government, along with the Nusra Front — an al-Qaida-linked group originally founded by the current HTS leader — for his wife's disappearance, Saleh said. Zaitouneh was a prominent human rights lawyer and founder of the Violation Documentation Center. She also helped organize networks of activists like the Local Coordination Committees, an umbrella network made up of activists who organized protests as part of the Syrian uprising. Her work earned her international recognition, including an International Woman of Courage award presented by U.S. first lady Michelle Obama in 2013. Several of those who spoke to the AP in 2018 said the Army of Islam saw Zaitouneh documenting abuses as a threat and resented her local administration plan as an encroachment on their power. Zaitouneh received a series of threats that friends and activists said traced back to the Army of Islam. The Army of Islam was forced to move north in 2018 after the Assad government retook Douma, leading to the group's weakening and disintegration. Hopes that Zaitouneh and her colleagues would emerge among released prisoners during that time were unmet. Today, the Army of Islam remains an armed faction backed by Turkey. It did not fight alongside the other Islamist factions that led the offensive against Assad and remains excluded from the HTS-led Syrian leadership. Recently, an Army of Islam delegation met HTS leader Ahmad Sharaa to explore integration into the new Syrian system, but no agreement has been reached. Protesters on Wednesday held banners openly accusing the Army of Islam and reading “Freedom” in English and “Traitor who kidnaps a revolutionary” in Arabic, alongside posters of the four missing activists. Saleh described the plight of the disappeared as uniquely painful, saying, “Those who die are mourned, but the forcibly disappeared are forbidden from both living and being mourned.” Their bodies must be found, he said, adding: “For Syria to heal, truth and justice must prevail.” Wafa Moustafa, whose father was forcibly disappeared separately in 2013, also attended the protest. Read more: Palestinian refugees return to Yarmouk, facing uncertainty in post-war Syria “Justice in Syria cannot be limited to those detained by the Assad regime,” she said. “For many years, other factions controlled parts of Syria and committed similar crimes of detention, torture and killing. If justice does not include all victims, it will remain incomplete and threaten Syria’s future.” Syrian delegation arrives in Saudi Arabia A Syrian delegation led by the foreign and defense ministers, along with the head of intelligence, arrived in Saudi Arabia on their first official foreign trip, Syrian state media reported, citing a foreign ministry official. Relations between Syria and Saudi Arabia have long been tense. Many Arab nations cut ties with Assad’s government after it relied on support from Iran and Russia to suppress uprisings. But the Arab League reinstated Syria in 2023, and regional leaders are increasingly open now to renewing diplomatic ties.

Family members of the seven people  killed onboard a fertiliser-laden vessel on the Meghna River near Eshanbala Char in Chandpur's Haimchar Upazila on Tuesday claimed the killings as planned and demanded justice. They identified the bodies at Chandpur General Hospital morgue and those were handed over to them after postmortem this noon. On Monday afternoon Coast Guard and River Police recovered five bodies and rescued three injured victims from the vessel. Later, two of the injured succumbed to their injuries at the hospital. No case has been filed yet but preparations for filing a case are underway, said Chandpur’s Haimchar Police Station Officer-in-Charge (OC) Mahiyuddin Suman The deceased were identified as Golam Kibria ,55, captain of the vessel hailed from Faridpur, his nephew Sheikh Sabuj,35, a sailor, Aminul Munshi, 40, helmsman from Narail district, Majedul,16, asailor from Magura Sajibul Islam ,26, sailor from Magura, Salahuddin,40, an engineer from Narail and Kazi Rana 24, its cook from Munshiganj. Sheikh Sabuj’s younger brother Sadikur Rahman said, “My brother recently spoke to me; he was a laskar (sailor) brought in by Captain Golam Kibria who is also our maternal uncle. This horrific incident must be thoroughly investigated, and justice must be ensured.” Read: Ministry of Industries shocked, forms probe body over MV Al Bakera incident in Chandpur Golam Kibria’s brother Awal Hossain broke down while describing his family’s anguish. “My brother was set to retire in January, but fate had other plans. He left behind two daughters and a son, with his elder daughter’s wedding planned for next month,” he lamented. Chandpur Deputy Commissioner (DC) Mohammad Mohsin Uddin said each victim’s family received Tk 25,000 in financial assistance. He assured that a case would be filed by the families.

The Human Rights Forum Bangladesh (HRPB), a human rights body,  has expressed deep concern and demand fair probe into the death of a domestic worker after falling from the eight-floor of the building in the city's Mohammadpur. Priti Urang, 15-year-old daughter of  tea worker of Mittinga village in Kamalganj upazila of Moulvibazar district Lokesh Urang, used to work as domestic help at the house of Daily Star executive editor Syed Ashfaqul Haque in the capital’s Mohammadpur and died falling from journalist’s flat on February 7. Police arrested journalist Ashfaqul and his wife Tania Khandaker on that day. Effects of Domestic Violence on Children A court also sent them to jail after rejecting their bail petition. The court permitted police to interrogate them at the jail gate for three days. Prity had been working at the house of Ashfaqul for two years. Meanwhile, the HRFB also placed some demands to ensure security of the domestic workers. These are—stopping use of children as domestic help, taking initiative from both the government and private organisations in this regard, implementing the House help safety and welfare policy 2015 and to enact a law, enlist the work of domestic workers under risk sector and taking  effective steps to strengthen the registration process of domestic workers from the state-run organisations. Twitter, UN Women team up to provide life-saving info to domestic violence survivors Besides, Naripakkho, a women rights organization, demanded a fair probe into the death of Priti and punishment of those involved in the death. It also urged the government to take steps so that the culprits do not get acquittal using power and effective steps to stop recurrence of such incident. Tea workers on Sunday demanded a fair investigation into the death of Priti Urang. During a programme, Priti's parents told the gathering that Priti went to work at the Daily Star executive editor Ashfaqul Haque's house through Moulvibazar district correspondent representative of the newspaper Mintu Deshwara. MJF expresses concern over rising domestic violence From the beginning, they lost touch with her. In two years, they could not meet her even once. “On the day of Priti's death, Mintu Deshwara asked us to come to Srimangal," said Lokesh, the father. "When Srimangal came, he said Priti was seriously ill and was taken to Dhaka. After going there, we were directly taken to the police station and heard the news of the girl's death. I came home with the dead body of the girl from the police station.” "We don't even know whether our case has been registered at the police station. We just want justice for our daughter's murder," he said. Speakers said that instead of sending the child Priti to school, tea garden journalist Mintu Deshwara, who works for the Daily Star, sent her to work at the residence of Syed Ashfaqul Haque, executive editor of the same newspaper.

Attorney General AM Amin Uddin on Thursday said the Chief Justice has nothing to do with the situation created over the  Supreme Court Bar Association(SCBA) election.  “Chief Justice said it is not our matter. It is a bar’s (Lawyers’ Association) matter. Senior lawyers of the bar association should sit for discussion to resolve the problem,” he told reporters after a meeting with Chief Justice Hasan Foez Siddique. Responding a question whether the election environment is good, the attorney general said that to keep the environment peaceful, both of the sides have the responsibilities equally. “If one side snatches the ballot papers and another side obstructs, then how will environment be fine?” “BNP supporters raise demand for re-election. But election is going smoothly and hundreds of lawyers are casting votes standing in queues,” he added. Earlier, a section of Pro-BNP lawyers presented yesterday's incident of police action on them on the premises of Supreme Court Bar Association (SCBA) before a full bench of the Appellate Division headed by Chief Justice Hasan Foez Siddique. Meanwhile, pro-BNP lawyers are still chanting slogans against the election which is underway today while pro-Awami League lawyers are also chanting slogan supporting the election. At least 10 journalists and lawyers were injured as police charged batons on them at the Supreme Court premises amid scuffle between pro-Awami League and pro BNP lawyers over the Supreme Court Bar Association (SCBA) election on Wednesday. The two-day voting in SCBA election started around 10 am but it was suspended immediately when some pro-BNP lawyers staged demonstrations demanding formation of election conducting committee led by a neutral person.

Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina today said the government wants to ensure justice for all with prompt disposal of cases, and ensure transparency and accountability in the country. “We want every citizen of the country to get justice. We want prompt disposal of cases. We want to ensure transparency and accountability… we want to establish that environment,” she said. The prime minister said this while addressing the inaugural session of the 59th Annual Council of Bangladesh Judicial Service Association at Bangabandhu International Conference Center (BICC). Sheikh Hasina said the government is working tirelessly to ensure the wellbeing of people — for a bright and secured future for them. “Let us ensure rule of law for the people of Bangladesh, so they can have a better life. We will establish Bangladesh that was dreamt by the Father of the Nation Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman,” she said. Read more: Zia, Ershad and Khaleda Zia turned Bangladesh into a ‘nation of beggars’: PM The prime minister said that members of the parliament have passed laws alongside making amendments to ensure security and welfare of the people while judges are ensuring justice for all. “As long as I am in power, I will do whatever necessary for the development of the judiciary,” she said. She said her government has formed special tribunals to dispose cases filed under the antiterrorism act. If the trials of anti-terrorism cases end quickly, those involved in terrorism will be discouraged, she hoped. The PM said patterns of terrorism and militancy have changed with the advent of newer technologies, and crimes are being enabled by technology. “We have enacted a law to contain cybercrimes. Many people say many things, but the fact is that law is necessary as the number of cybercrimes has gone up immensely,” she said. She called upon all, including parents, teachers, and religious leaders, to be involved in anti-terrorism and anti-militancy awareness campaigns across the country. “We have to pay special attention so that no chid gets involved in militancy,” she added. Referring to militant attacks in Jhalakathi and Gazipur courts, she said her government has taken measures so that judges can return home safely after delivering verdicts. The PM said as many as 101 tribunals are now working across the country to deal with cases of women and children repression; seven tribunals are assigned to work on human trafficking cases. To bring dynamism in the judiciary, she said a total of 1227 judges were appointed in the lower courts since 2009 till date, while a process is underway to recruit 200 judges more. Read more: Anti-liberation forces and killers of Bangabandhu are always trying to make Bangladesh a ‘failed state’: PM to AL activists Recalling the contribution of Father of the Nation Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman for the development of the judiciary, she said Bangabandhu had scrapped a Pakistani era law, paving the way for appointing women in the judiciary. The prime minister urged judges to consider the situation before Awami League assumed power in 1996, saying, “You (judges) will see a complete change.” She said her government has continued the trial of war criminals, confronting obstacles at home and abroad, adding that she had received many international phone calls, including from heads of states, when her government initiated measures to try war criminals. The prime minister thanked Judge Golam Rasul for his bravery in delivering the judgement over the brutal assassination of Father of the Nation Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman, overcoming many hurdles. She said the BNP-Jamaat alliance called hartal on the verdict day (November 8, 1998). The BNP-Jamaat alliance government later awarded the killers of Bangabandhu by posting them in foreign missions and rehabilitated them in politics, she said. She also said military dictator Ziaur Rahman freed 11,000 war criminals from jails to stop the trial of the anti-liberation elements that was initiated by the Father of the Nation. The prime minister vowed to build a developed, prosperous 'Smart Bangladesh' by 2041 to give the people a better life. Law Minister Anisul Huq, Law Secretary Md. Golam Sarwar and Bangladesh Judicial Service Association President AHM Habibur Rahman Bhuiyan also spoke at the programme. A documentary on judicial service was screened at the programme.

Naheed Ezaher Khan was only five years old in 1977 when she saw her father’s body. He was killed like hundreds of other military officers during Gen Ziaur Rahman’s military regime. Her last memory of her father is a body perforated with bullets – that imagery still haunts her, even after 45 years. The murder spree went on following the takeover of Gen Ziaur Rahman who ordered killing, by hanging or on firing squad, of the army and air force officers charged with a coup attempt on October 2, 1977. Still deprived of justice, she recounted her ordeals at an event held in Cumilla on December 10, marking Human Rights Day 2022, where several other victim families also pleaded for justice. Read: Experts want independent commission to bring August 15 perpetrators to justice Recounting the days overcast with gloom following her father's death, Naheed said, "Hearing the news, my mother talked to Gen Ziaur Rahman to bury my father through proper religious rituals and with state honor befitting a military officer safeguarding his nation with due diligence and a freedom fighter fighting for the independence of this land." All their pleas fell on deaf ears of the military ruler who fortified his position as the country's ruler after the assassination of the Father of the Nation in 1975. The death of her father slipped their family into an abyss of despair as they were treated like traitors despite her father's contribution as a freedom fighter and a military officer. She and her sibling were even refused admission in schools as the tag of being “children of a death sentence awardee” hung around their life. Naheed Ezaher Khan is one of over 1,000 family members of the officers, murdered on the same occasion, who teamed up under the banner of “Ma-er Kanna” (Mother’s Tears) to demand the restoration of the honor snatched away from them and posthumous trial of Ziaur Rahman. Gen Zia, in his six years’ stint, oversaw execution of at least 1500 officers who were freedom fighters.  Journalist Zayadul Ahsan Pintu, who is known for his research on post-1975 killings of the members of the armed forces, had said that the then military tribunal judges used to read out pre-written judgment signed by the Gen Ziaur Rahman. Hundreds of mothers, wives, sisters, and brothers made frantic effort to see or locate the remains of the deceased, but to no avail. Read: 'Progress in ensuring justice for Rohingyas moves at snail's pace' Ziaur Rahman, who mercilessly hanged countless officers suspected of coup, mercifully protected, through an indemnity ordinance, the self-proclaimed killers of the Father of the Nation Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman whose death marked the beginning of the darkest chapter in the country's history. Another woman, Laila Anjuman, shed tears even after all these years as her spouse Flight Sergeant Tofazzal Hossain was picked up from the cantonment a year and a half into their wedding. She lashed out at Ziaur Rahman, who “hanged her husband in the guise of suppressing a so-called rebellion”. She had married Tofazzal and had a six-month-old baby at the time of her husband's death. The most heart-wrenching part is that she is yet to show her child where her husband's grave is.  Legal experts heavily criticize the fact that the bodies were not returned to their families after the death sentences were executed, which is a rare cruelty.

International community and States Parties of Rome Statute need to stand resolutely with Bangladesh in securing sustainable return of the Rohingya people to their homeland, Myanmar, speakers told a discussion in the city. They underlined it at an event during the 21st (annual) Assembly of the States Parties of the International Criminal Court (ICC) in the Hague on Friday. The event titled ‘Justice for the Rohingyas and No Peace without Justice’ was co-hosted by the Bangladesh Embassy to the Netherlands, the Government of Gambia.  Bangladesh Ambassador to the Netherlands, M Riaz Hamidullah, Deputy Prosecutor of ICC, Nazhat Shameem Khan, President of Burma Rohingya Organisation UK, Tun Khin, former member of the Advisory Commission on Rakhine State, Amb. Laetitia Van Den Assum, and Gambian Solicitor General, Hussein Thomasi, spoke at the event. Read more: ‘US glad over beginning resettlement programme for Rohingya refugees’ Ambassador Hamidullah said that in securing a lasting solution within the new federal structure of Myanmar, issues relating to the Rohingya people as also other ethnic minorities in Myanmar merit attention in inclusive and transparent ways.  As the regional grouping, civil society actors, think-tank, academia within ASEAN region need to look at situation in Myanmar to ensure the region's collective stability and prosperity. Aside from humanitarian assistance, political solutions should be equally in focus, he added.  The Rohingya leader Thun Khin appreciated Bangladesh for hosting Rohingya and in their fight for justice for the Rohingya.  He shared the significance of universal jurisdiction and an investigation in an Argentine Court a key step in securing justice for the Rohingyas. He also urged more countries to consider such cases. Deputy Prosecutor Nazhat Khan shared the progress on investigation on the ICC Case inquiring war crimes against Rohingyas.  The Gambian Solicitor General said that The Gambia itself had been a victim of two decades of authoritarian rule and thus valued the Rohingya issue in initiating the procedure at the ICJ as a member of the Genocide Convention. Read more: US working to increase resettlement of Rohingyas from Bangladesh: Blinken  Ambassador Laetitia Assum said that the ground situation in Myanmar continues to escalate since the military coup two years ago.  She viewed that as most ASEAN countries do not share a border with Myanmar, they do not sufficiently understand the burden on the neighboring countries. 

Students of Bangladesh University of Engineering and Technology (BUET) on Tuesday (November 08, 2022) formed a human chain on campus, demanding justice for fellow student Fardin Noor Parash’s death. The human chain, under the banner of general students, was formed in front of BUET Shaheed Minar after Fardin’s namaz-e-janaza at the campus Central Mosque. The students demanded immediate arrest of those behind Fardin’s death after identifying them. Read: Injury marks on head, body of Buet student Fardin: Doctor who conducted autopsy Fardin’s body was brought to Buet campus after autopsy this morning.