Prof Karzon seeks Tk5cr compensation
Staff Reporter :
Professor Hafizur Rahman Karzon has demanded Tk5 crore in compensation from the government, alleging that his constitutional rights under Article 33 were violated while in custody. He claimed he was humiliated and denied basic facilities during detention.
On Friday (29 August) at 10:30am, Dhaka Metropolitan Magistrate Sarah Farzana Haque ordered the detention.
of former minister Abdul Latif Siddique, Professor Karzon, and 16 others in a case filed under the Anti-Terrorism Act with Shahbagh Police Station.
Sub-inspector Taufiq Hasan, the investigation officer, along with Additional Public Prosecutor Md Shamsuddoha Suman, petitioned the court to send the accused to jail.
During the hearing, Professor Karzon held up a copy of the Constitution and protested:
“Our human rights have been violated. Everything the public prosecutor has said is false. We are victims, yet we are being punished. I demand Tk5 crore in compensation and immediate bail.”
He told the court he had not been allowed to appoint a lawyer and had been kept overnight in a lock-up “without a fan or even soap.”
Recounting events before his arrest, Karzon said he was attending a programme at the Dhaka Reporters Unity (DRU) on Thursday (28 August), organised by Zahidul Haque Panna, where a freedom fighter acted as stage secretary and Dr Kamal Hossain was invited as the chief guest.
He alleged that during his speech on the Liberation War and the Constitution, attackers forcefully broke up the programme and later, instead of the perpetrators, he and others were arrested.
“We are the victims, while the real criminals remain free,” Karzon told the court, again raising the Constitution. “This Constitution was written with the blood of three million martyrs. It must be protected.”
His lawyer, Farzana Yasmin Rakhi, told reporters after the hearing that the detainees, including Latif Siddique, were held in dusty, unhygienic conditions without proper ventilation.
“Their fundamental rights under Article 33 were violated,” she said.