Arrestees 'find it hard' to get legal aid

Family members of those arrested in connection with the murder of Japanese national Hoshi Kunio yesterday complained that they were denied the right to get legal assistance.

They also alleged that the police continued their “harassment of the relatives of the arrestees”.

Families of two arrestees -- Rashedun Nabi Khan Biplob and Humayun Kabir Hira -- could not yet get the copies of the case statement even though three days had gone by in their 10-day remand.

They could not even appoint lawyers to defend the two.

Like the last five days, police refused to talk to journalists yesterday.

Mamunur Rashid, a sub-inspector of Kaunia Police Station and also the investigation officer of the case, did not answer phone calls.

Meanwhile, Biplob's wife Shirin Akhter Diba yesterday held a press conference at her Guptapara house.

“I demand that the right of a general citizen to get legal aid be given. And, I should be allowed to appoint a lawyer for my husband,” Diba told The Daily Star after the press conference.

She said she could not even get the case statement from Kaunia Police Station where the murder case was lodged.

“I request the prime minister to look into the matter, as my husband is undoubtedly innocent.”

Diba had chosen lawyers Aftab Uddin and Abdul Kuayum Mondal to defend her husband in the court but could not get their appointments approved by Kauniya's Judicial Magistrate Court on Wednesday.

“Our petition was turned down as it did not have the signature of our client [Biplob],” said Kuayum.

Kuayum said they went to Kotwali Police Station to get Biplob's signature on Tuesday. “We were not allowed to meet him.”

Aftab Uddin said, “... Police cannot keep someone in their custody for more than a day or take him on remand without giving him the chance of defence through a lawyer.”

Public Prosecutor Abdul Malek, however, said it was not right that the suspects' families were not aware of the remand.

Hira's wife, Sultana Khatun, too could not appoint a lawyer for her husband.

“I am completely in the dark about the state of my husband,” she said.

RELATIVES 'TARGETED'

Sultana alleged that police even picked up her younger brother's in-laws in Rajshahi on Thursday midnight and released them around 5:00pm.

“My husband has been framed, my father was detained, and now they [police] are going after my younger brother's in-laws,” said Sultana.

Contacted, Abul Kalam Azad, additional superintendent of police in Rajshahi, and Tanvir Haider Chowdhury, deputy commissioner of Rajshahi Metropolitan Police, said they were unaware of such detentions.

Tanvir Haider last night told The Daily Star that a police team from Rangpur was working in Rajshahi. He, however, said he had no idea on what the team was working on.

The reported harassment of Sultana's relatives came after the detention of her father Zafar Ali on Tuesday. Ali was released later that day.

“My brother has gone into hiding out of fear,” said Sultana, adding, “They [police] have also ordered my father not to leave Rangpur under any circumstances.”

KUNIO'S BURIAL

The Japanese embassy yesterday called Rangpur City Corporation Mayor Sharfuddin Ahmed Jhantu to know if Kunio could be buried in the city, said the mayor's personal secretary Ador Rahman.

Tajul Islam, muazzin of Munsipara Quaderia mosque in Rangpur, said he yesterday afternoon signed a statement brought to him by the mayor, which says Kunio had converted to Islam.

The mayor could not be reached for his comments.