BNP leader Quayum held in Malaysia
Malaysian police on Friday arrested BNP senior leader MA Quayum, who has been living in Malaysia as a resident under a second-home visa for the last eight years.
His son Navid Tanvin Ananta said his father is a "victim of political persecution" that began in 2015 when an Italian national named Cesare Tavella was murdered in Dhaka in September of that year.
He said Malaysian police arrested Quayum from his home in Ampang Jaya, Kuala Lumpur, and that he has yet to be informed of any specific reasons behind the arrest.
Ananta claimed Quayum was a registered refugee under the UN Refugee Agency (UNHCR) in Malaysia, a status vested upon him due to the "transnational persecution of political opponents" by the Bangladesh government.
"We suspect the Bangladesh government has nullified my father's passport to portray him as someone living in Malaysia without proper documentation."
Fearing that Malaysian authorities would deport Quayum, Ananta said, "I request that his deportation to Bangladesh be cancelled and that he be released as soon as possible."
A lawyer has been appointed to challenge Quayum's arrest, he informed.
Meanwhile, a foreign ministry official, wishing to remain unnamed, confirmed Quayum's arrest but did not provide further details about the matter.
He also said he did not have any knowledge about Quayum's passport ever being nullified.
Despite yesterday's attempts for information on the matter, Bangladeshi High Commissioner to Malaysia, Shameem Ahsan, did not answer calls from The Daily Star or respond to a WhatsApp message that was marked as read.
On October 27, 2015, Home Minister Asaduzzaman Khan Kamal told The Daily Star that Quayum was the "Boro Bhai" behind the murder of Cesare Tavella.
Quayum, a former ward councillor in Badda and a joint convener of Dhaka city unit BNP left the country on April 28, 2015. Since then, he has been staying either in Malaysia or in Dubai. He also often visited London.
During that time, Quayum had said the Bangladesh government wanted to frame him for the murder of Cesare Tavella.
Ananta said, "Immediately after the Tavella murder, ISIS claimed responsibility. In the middle of 2016, the Rapid Action Battalion (Rab) also found ties between the militant group 'neo-JMB' and the killing.
"However, the Detective Branch of police ignored the claim made by ISIS and the statement made by Rab and continued the court proceedings against Quayum and his brother."
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