The interim government of Bangladesh has banned all activities of the party of former Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina, who was ousted last year after a student-led uprising.
The interim cabinet, headed by Nobel laureate Muhammad Yunus, decided to ban the Awami League under the Anti-Terrorism Act, Bangladesh’s law affairs adviser, Asif Nazrul, said late on Saturday.
The ban would remain in place until the trial of the party and its leadership over the deaths of hundreds of protesters at the International Crimes Tribunal (ICT) is completed, the government said in the statement.
Awami League’s student wing, Bangladesh Chhatra League, was banned in October after being labelled a “terrorist organisation” for its role in violent attacks on protesters during the uprising.
Thousands of protesters, including supporters of a newly formed students’ party, had been taking to the streets in Dhaka for days to demand a ban on the Awami League.
The members of the student wing of the Jamaat-e-Islami party also prominently took part in the protests.
A mass uprising that began with student-led protests in July last year led to the ousting of Hasina, who had ruled Bangladesh with an iron fist for 15 years.
Up to 1,400 people may have been killed during three weeks of protests against Hasina and her government, according to a February report by the United Nations human rights office. Hasina and many of her senior party officials have been accused of murder and other offences as a result.
In his announcement, Nazrul also said the cabinet expanded the scope for trying any political parties involving charges of killing during the protests.
The change to the Information and Communication Technology (ICT) Act clears the way for the Awami League to be tried as a collective entity for alleged crimes committed during its time in power.
The move to ban the party came hours after Nazrul said a Truth and Reconciliation Commission would be formed to underscore national unity. The latest move, political analysts say, will elude the unity needed for a smooth transition of power in this South Asian nation of 170 million people.
The National Citizen Party convener, Nahid Islam, who is also a student leader, applauded the government decision.
But the Awami League, founded in 1949, dismissed the decision as illegitimate, posting on its official Facebook page: “All decisions of the illegal government are illegal.”
Hasina has been living in exile in India since August 5, with her official residence in Bangladesh also stormed by protesters soon after she left.
Earlier this month, former Prime Minister Khaleda Zia returned to Dhaka after four months of medical treatment in the British capital, London, raising pressure on the interim government to set a date for national elections.
Yunus has pledged reforms to political institutions and said the polls could be delayed until 2026.
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