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Published on December 17, 2025
An informative event hosted in the UK Parliament by Bob Blackman MP, the Bangladesh Unity Forum, and Doughty Street Chambers barristers shed an important light on the alarming rise of political and religious violence and the threats to democracy in Bangladesh.
Ahead of the February elections, parliamentarians, lawyers, and activists discussed the assault on participatory democracy through the unlawful ban on the Awami League and stressed the importance of free, fair, and all-inclusive elections. They warned that the upcoming election would lack constitutional legitimacy and disenfranchise millions of ordinary Bangladeshis if the Awami League is not allowed to participate.
Speakers equally criticised the lack of due process in the ICT-BD’s trial of Sheikh Hasina and the weaponisation of the judiciary as a tool of political oppression.
UK barristers have filed communications to the ICC and UN Special Rapporteurs to highlight the concerning rise of retaliatory violence, extrajudicial executions, arbitrary detentions, and the abuse of fair trial rights.
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