16,500 missing persons cases being withdrawn : Legal Advisor

Legal Advisor Asif Nazrul said that 16,429 cases of disappearances filed during the Awami League government are being withdrawn. He said that 1,214 of these cases will be withdrawn within the next week.

He gave this information at a press briefing at the Secretariat on Tuesday (February 11).

The Legal Advisor said that a list of 16,429 cases has been made. After the list, we have to go through the records of each case and see if it is a genuine political harassment disappearance case, or has it been filed against an individual through some irregularity or manipulation?

Stating that the gazette will be published, he said, “We cannot withdraw a murder case against an individual. We have to check the records of each case to make sure.” In this process, 1,214 cases out of 16,429 disappearance cases will be withdrawn within the next week. And the gazette regarding the withdrawal of 53 cases out of 1,214 cases will be published within today.

Stating that the Ministry of Home Affairs has cooperated in withdrawing the cases, the legal advisor said, “We are working together with them in many cases.”

In response to a question from journalists, he said, “Absent cases are cases filed with the intention of persecution during the Awami League era.”

All cyber security-related cases to be withdrawn by February.

Stating that 396 cases were filed during the previous government’s tenure due to speech offenses, the advisor said, “The Ministry of Law has already withdrawn 332 cases through public prosecutors.” The decision to withdraw 61 cases has been finalized. This will also be completed in the next three to four working days. When February ends, there will be no more cases related to speech offenses in the cyber security court.”

He said, “However, we will not be able to withdraw the three cases. Because they are suspended according to the decision of the High Court.”

Amendment to the Power of Attorney Rules

Asif Nazrul said, expatriates had many complaints about the 2015 Power of Attorney Rules. According to these rules, if someone wanted to give a power of attorney; then he had to have a passport, he had to go to the Bangladesh embassy and submit his passport. Many children of expatriates do not take Bangladeshi passports. Therefore, there would be many complications if they tried to get a power of attorney on their behalf.

The legal advisor said, we have brought amendments to these rules after talking to everyone concerned. According to the amendments, even if expatriate Bangladeshis do not have a Bangladeshi passport, they can still execute their power of attorney. If a person of Bangladeshi origin has a no visa required sticker in his passport, or if he has a birth certificate or a national identity card, he can execute a power of attorney from abroad. I think this will play a big role in alleviating the suffering of many of our expatriate Bangladeshis.

The legal advisor also said that an ordinance has been issued amending the International Crimes Tribunal to ensure that the pace of cases and investigations is not slowed down due to bureaucratic complications.