Staff Reporter :
The sanction on former Army General Aziz Ahmed was meant for the US commitment to upholding democratic institutions and the rule of law in Bangladesh, the US Department of Defence said on Tuesday.
The Department further said that the US government fully supports the Bangladesh government’s efforts to curb corruption.
In reply to a question from a journalist, Pentagon Press Secretary Maj. Gen. Pat Ryder said, “The State Department has designated General Ahmed for significant corruption. They did this back in May.
That designation reaffirms the US commitment to strengthening democratic institutions and the rule of law in Bangladesh.”
The journalist asked how the Pentagon is navigating its military and security partnership with Bangladesh, given the US public designation of the immediate past Army Chief of Bangladesh, General Aziz, due to his involvement in significant corruption.
The country is moving in the wrong direction, with extreme violations of human rights and democratic rights. Top police and RAB personnel have been sanctioned by the US, and the current regime is using the security forces to keep power by any means.
In reply to it, Ryder said, “The US does have a close bilateral defence relationship with Bangladesh in support of shared values and interests, such as a shared free and open Indo-Pacific and maritime and regional security.”
On May 20, the United States announced that it was imposing sanctions on a former Bangladesh Army chief, General Aziz Ahmed, due to his involvement in “significant corruption.”
Soon after the sanction, Gen. Aziz expressed his surprise at the imposition of such restrictions on him after three years of his retirement.
“Such a decision by the world’s top country is truly surprising, especially after three years of my retirement from service. I’m surprised. I’m shocked. These restrictions are of no use. There are no results,” he said in a media reaction.
Aziz Ahmed assumed the role of Chief of Army Staff in June 2018 and retired in June 2021.
The United States has been focusing on democratic institutions and the rule of law repeatedly.
Even US Assistant Secretary of State for South and Central Asia Donald Lu, during his visit to Bangladesh on May 15, talked about the government’s multifarious issues, including combating corruption.
“I have talked with the minister about how we want to work together to fight corruption. So much we can do is promote the transparency of the government and the accountability of the officials,” he told the journalists in the foreign ministry at that time.
Soon after his visit, the US sanction was slapped on Gen. Aziz on May 20.
Following the announcement of US sanctions on Aziz, a number of corruption charges and reports against the members of top police officials, including former Inspector General of Police Benazir Ahmed, have been revealed in the mass media.
Following the corruption reports, the political parties are criticising the government, stating that the government itself has created these corrupt officials.
Meanwhile, on Wednesday, a political party named Nagorik Oikya organised a human chain in front of the Jatiya Press Club in the capital, protesting the unbridled corruption of General Aziz, Benazir Ahmed, and NBR official Matiur Rahman.
“When a poor peasant failed to refund the loan of Tk 30,000, police picked him up at the police station. Why did not anybody see when the chiefs of the Army and Police looted crores of dollars? Why have the passports of Aziz and Benazir not been seized? The government has been protecting them,” Nagorik Oikya President Mahmudur Rahman Manna said.
He also criticised the government for inking deals with India to allow their trains to pass through the land borders of Bangladesh to reach the seven sisters of India.