Awami League on Friday condemned and protested the unlawful arrest of a senior lawyer who rendered legal service to former minister Dr Abdur Razzaq, describing him as a "victim of unlawful incarceration."
In a message posted on social media platforms, the party said "Such arbitrary detention of a senior advocate for standing beside victims of unlawful incarceration is designed to terrorize other lawyers from offering legal services to thousands of victims of mass arrests."
Former Agriculture Minister Abdur Razzaq was presented in court on Thursday after completion of an initial 2-day remand. His lawyer Advocate Mostafizur Rahman Talukdar Dipu applied for bail, but the judge denied it and ordered him to be sent to jail.
Later Dipu, a former Senior Joint Secretary of the Dhaka Bar Association, was taken by RAB and plainclothes police from his residence to Dhanmondi Police Station around 2am, in the small hours of Friday.
“The unlawful detention of a lawyer marks an unconstitutional effort designed to encourage the culture of mass arrest, indemnify those responsible for arbitrary arrest and further weaponisation of law enforcement and judiciary to persecute citizens regarded as dissenters,” AL's message on its verified accounts concluded.