Wednesday, February 1, 2023

STATEMENT: JusticeMakers Bangladesh gravely concerns over the attacked on CEO of BELA

The Bangladeshi human rights organisation ,JusticeMakers Bangladesh gravely concerns over the incident of attacks on environmental lawyer and chief executive officer of Bangladesh Environmental Lawyer Association (BELA), Syeda Rizwana Hasan and her team at Chittagong on 26 January 2023.

JusticeMakers Bangladesh simultaneously called the government for arrest the all accuseds and ensure the exemplary punishment to the culprits after quick and impartial investigation and trail.

Founder Secretary General of JusticeMakers Bangladesh and prominent human rights lawyer Advocate Shahanur Islam strongly condemned the incident and urged to ensuring full security to the victim lawyer and his team.


According to information received, On 26 January 2023, woman environmental human rights defender Syeda Rizwana Hasan and her team were attacked when their vehicles were pelted with stones. The events took place on their visit to the Lake City residential area of Chattogram, a site where the hills have been razed for a housing project, impacting the local environment.

On 26 January 2023 at around 12.30pm, members of Bangladesh Environmental Lawyer’s Association (BELA), along with several journalists, visited the aforementioned housing project in the Lake City residential area. Following this, they visited Kalirichara Khal, a body of water which has been filled in as part of the construction.

This development has been headed by Jahirul Alam Jashim. Jashim is a local leader of the national ruling party, as well as a local Councillor of Chottogram City Corporation. While the woman environmental human rights defender was conducting this visit, a group of people started to follow the team and made attempts to intimidate them by questioning them about their reasons for being there.

As Syeda Rizwana Hasan and her team proceeded towards the site, Jahurul Alam Jashim and his men appeared, brandishing sharp weapons, and obstructed them from entering the site. The woman environmental human rights defender escaped to the nearby bypass road and called the police to come to the scene. By the time they arrived, she had reached her car. However, when she subsequently made an attempt to leave the vicinity, Jahirul Alam Jashim and his men pelted the car with stones, also aiming for Sayeda Rizwana Hasan herself.

Later, Syeda Rizwana Hasan filed a case against specific seven persons and unknown some persons including Chattogram City Corporation's No. 9 Uttar Pahartali ward councillor Zahurul Alam Jasim at Akbar Shah Police Station being GR number 25/2023 under section 143/341/342/506 of the penal code on 26 January 2023.


On 28 January 2023, police arrested one accused. The arrested person was identified as Abu Noman, (41) of Akbar Shah area in the Chittagong city. Later on 29 January 2023, he was produced to the Chief Metropolitan Magistrate Court (CMM) Chittagong, and the learned Metropolitan Magistrate enlarged his release on bail the same day as the allegation was bailable.

============================================================ Advocate Shahanur Islam | An Young, Ascendant, Dedicated Human Rights Defender, Lawyer and Blogger in Bangladesh, Fighting for Ensuring Human Rights, Rule of Law, Good Governance, Peace and Social Justice For the Victim of Torture, Extra Judicial Killing, Force Disappearance, Trafficking in Persons including Ethnic, Religious, Sexual and Social Minority People.

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