Free Nizami, Sydee, Mujahid

Her Excellency
Shaikh Hasina Wazed
Prime Minister
Peoples Republic of Bangladesh
Your Excellency,
We write to bring to your attention our concerns and complaints, as non-resident Bangladeshis living in the United Kingdom, with regards to recent events that have taken place in Bangladesh. The past week has witnessed the unjustified and politically motivated arrest and imprisonment of leaders from Bangladesh Jamaat Islami under a system of law that is both draconian and prejudiced. The trumped up charges brought against Maulana Nizami, BJI Chief and a former cabinet minister and MP, Mr. Ali Ahsan Mohammad Mujahid, BJI Secretary General and a former cabinet minister, and Maulana Sydee, BJI central executive committee member and a former MP, are farcical and a gross abuse of government power for political profiteering.
These events have made the governments intentions manifestly clear. The nature of the cases renders it impossible for any thinking individual to identify any truth in the claims levied, nor to accept the legality of the governments intervention and actions. Both the common people and world leaders will only interpret these steps as evidence of the Bangladeshi government plunging the country into an authoritarian regime.
Given recent trends in Bangladesh, with the clampdown upon freedom of the press and political thought, human rights violations in contravention of both international laws and that of Bangladesh itself and the effective elimination of an independent judiciary, we are concerned that the current government has indeed descended into an autocratic and dictatorial regime. It is greatly worrying to see that in the last 18 months the government orchestrated actions have included:
Compromising the independence of the judiciary by appointing incompetent and partisan Judges to the High Court division of the Supreme Court;
Re-organising the benches with active progovernment party political supporters in the most important writ and bail benches along with the Appellate division by superseding senior judges to appoint less competent Judges in direct contravention to the customs of the countrys highest judiciary; and
Conducting regular undue interventions into judicial decisions through the politically appointed Attorney Generals office and that of Public Prosecutors,
Closing down the respected opposition daily Amardesh newspaper and arrested its editor who has now testified to torture duringremand in police custodyfor weeks
Ordering the closure of Channel One, a popular TV channel, by an executive decision of the Ministry of Information;
Cancelled the license of another TV channel, Zamuna TV, to start their broadcasting;
Stopped the most popular talk shows on various TV channels;
Issued license to another 10 new TV channels to their own party leaders and businessmen.
Arrested former Secretary of the State, Mr Shomsher Mubin Chowdhury, an adviser to the chairperson of BNP who is now in police remand along with former Mayor of Dhaka City Corporation. A number of opposition MPs were also arrested from the opposition rallies along with several other opposition activists;

The government is bringing disrepute and international embarrassment to our beloved nation through their thoughtless and reckless actions. Our already fragile democracy will crumble if the government continues to act with such impunity in pursuit of political supremacy. Our country needs stability, good governance, strong economic policies, improvement to health, social welfare and infrastructure as well as education suitable for the 21st century. These are the matters of importance which, if invested in well, will improve the condition of our impoverished nation. The governments current stance and behaviour will only hamper progress of our nation.
For all of us living here in the UK, democracy is open and available for us to express our views and exercise ours right to take part in political activities, even though we are a migrant community. Likewise we take pride in Bangladesh having a democratic system in place that is designed to allow for freedom of expression and the ability to bring ones leaders to account for the good of the country. However, the recent incidents. sanctioned by the government against political organisations, questions the entire validity and legitimacy of democracy in Bangladesh.
We hope and pray that this message does not fall on deaf ears and ask that you take suitable steps to reverse and bring an end to the ongoing persecution and torture of the opposition political groups and restore a healthy environment in the country's educational institution. We hereby earnestly request you to extend your helping hand to the peaceful and democracy-loving people of Bangladesh, so as to ensure that your government:
1. Take necessary steps to stop all extra-judicial arrests and killings immediately, restore the rule of law and protect all human rights including the democratic rights of the opposition parties;
2. Ensure democratic activities are conducted with political representation and pluralism, and to stop politically motivated arrests and killing of the opposition activists.
3. Release all opposition leaders and political prisoners of conscience;
4. Allow a free and unfettered media