The interim government’s influence extends deep into the judiciary. Judges are pressured; prosecutors are politicized.

Instead of being released on bail granted by the High Court Division of the Supreme Court of Bangladesh, on 4 September 2025, Khodadad Khan Pitu (60), former President of the Naogaon District Bar Association and President of the Human Rights Lawyers’ Forum, Naogaon, was re-arrested by Naogaon Sadar police from the gate of Naogaon District Jail.

On 5 September, he was produced before the court in connection with a 2024 case filed over an incident in 2022 under the Explosive Substances Act, and the court ordered him sent to jail.

Earlier, in the early hours of 17 July 2025 (around 2:30 a.m.), police had arrested him from his residence in the Chokmoyrdi Post Office area of Naogaon town. Although his name was not initially included in the 2024 case of vandalism and arson at the local BNP office, it was later added during the investigation, and he was sent to prison after being presented in court. He subsequently obtained bail from the High Court Division of the Supreme Court of Bangladesh.

Prior to that, he had voluntarily surrendered and obtained bail in another case filed during the July movement against attacks on students and ordinary citizens.

On 2 September 2025, twelve lawyers in Barguna District surrendered before the District and Sessions Judge in a case related to vandalism and arson at a BNP office. The court denied them bail. Eight days later, the High Court granted six weeks’ bail to ten of them. Yet, moments before their release, they were re-arrested under a newly fabricated case filed under the Special Powers Act by Betagi Police Station and sent straight back to prison.

Among those re-arrested were Mahabubul Bari Aslam, former President of the Barguna District Bar Association, and Advocates Mojibur Rahman, Saimum Islam Rabbi, Humayun Kabir Poltu, and Nurul Islam. Their brief taste of freedom became a cruel illusion, underscoring a chilling reality: even High Court bail cannot protect lawyers from politically engineered persecution.

These are not an isolated incidents. Rather, between August 2024 and September 2025, Justicemakers Bangladesh in France (JMBF) documented 75 incidents of imprisonment affecting 203 lawyers. Each case reveals a deliberate strategy: fabricated charges, coerced surrenders, manipulated court procedures, and prolonged pre-trial detentions.

The largest share of these imprisonments arose from attempted murder (15 incidents, 103 victims) and murder (25 incidents, 43 victims)—serious accusations crafted to discredit and intimidate. Other allegations include sabotage, vandalism, seditious conspiracy, and extortion, laws selectively revived to target politically active lawyers or those defending victims of state abuse.

The regime has weaponized the law itself, turning courts into instruments of fear rather than justice. Lawyers affiliated with the Bangladesh Awami League (BAL) have been particularly targeted, with legal compliance—surrendering or filing bail applications—used against them as evidence of guilt.

The case of Advocate Abu Sayeed Sagar, former Dhaka Bar Association president, epitomizes this tactic. During the 2023 Supreme Court Bar Association election, a minor scuffle became the pretext for charges against him. After securing six weeks of anticipatory bail, Sagar voluntarily surrendered on 5 October 2025 to renew it. Instead of a hearing, he was denied bail and jailed. Under the Yunus-led interim government, surrender no longer signifies compliance with the law—it becomes a trapdoor into imprisonment, illustrating how even lawful acts are punished.

Among the 75 documented incidents, 57 involved arrests leading directly to imprisonment. Lawyers have been detained at home, in offices, and even in courtrooms, signaling that no professional stature offers protection.

Each detention removes one voice and intimidates countless others. Bar associations hesitate to convene; young lawyers adopt silence as a survival tactic. The courtroom, once a sanctuary of justice, now functions as a stage for repression.

Behind these numbers are shattered lives. Prisoned lawyers endure overcrowded cells, denial of medical care, and restricted family visits. Many have lost their livelihoods; some have fled abroad to continue their work in exile. Families live in fear, and entire legal communities operate under siege, paralyzed by collective anxiety.

Since mid-2024, the Yunus administration, installed under the banner of “transition and reform”, has systematically dismantled civil liberties, silenced journalists, and targeted professionals aligned with the Awami League. A Nobel Peace laureate now presides over a government that governs through fear, betraying the principles for which he was once celebrated internationally.

The interim government’s influence extends deep into the judiciary. Judges are pressured; prosecutors are politicized. Bail hearings are postponed indefinitely, and lawyers are denied access to case files. This violates Bangladesh’s Constitution and Article 9 of the ICCPR, which prohibits arbitrary detention. Courts have shifted from being protectors of justice to instruments of political repression.

In today’s Bangladesh, detention is preventive, not punitive. Lawyers are imprisoned before dissent occurs, neutralizing critics and stifling independent advocacy. By incarcerating defenders of justice, the government effectively incarcerates the legal conscience of the nation.

Bangladesh is obliged to follow the UN Basic Principles on the Role of Lawyers (1990) and the ICCPR, both guaranteeing lawyers the right to perform their duties “without intimidation, hindrance, harassment, or improper interference.” The mass imprisonment of lawyers under the Yunus government is a direct violation of these commitments, making the administration complicit in systematic human-rights abuse.

The international community must act decisively. The UN and other human-rights bodies should conduct thorough fact-finding missions, while international legal associations monitor trials and document violations of due process. Governments should consider targeted measures, including visa bans and asset freezes against officials responsible for repression, and provide emergency visas or asylum for lawyers facing imminent arrest. Silence from Nobel committees, universities, or civil-society leaders can no longer be tolerated; neutrality in the face of such abuses is complicity.

The mass imprisonment of lawyers in Bangladesh represents a moral collapse of governance. By criminalizing advocacy itself, the Yunus-led interim government has weaponized justice as an instrument of fear.

Muhammad Yunus, once celebrated for empowering the powerless, now presides over a regime that suppresses those who defend them. The world must judge him not by accolades, but by the lives of those jailed for defending the law.

When defenders of justice are silenced, it is not only lawyers who are imprisoned—it is the conscience of Bangladesh itself.

Disclaimer: Views expressed by writers in this section are their own and do not reflect Milli Chronicle’s point-of-view.

The report focused on human rights violations, particularly extrajudicial killings and custodial deaths committed by law enforcement personnel as well as prison authorities during the period from August 2024 to July 2025.

The report was prepared based on the research of JMBF Executive Committee member Ms. Jannatul Ferdous and edited by JMBF’s founding president, Advocate Shahanur Islam. It compiled information on 70 deaths in 60 incidents across the country, where extrajudicial killings and custodial deaths occurred at the hands of law enforcement agencies, prison authorities, and other security forces.

According to the published information, among the deceased, 55% (43 people in 33 incidents) died directly at the hands of security forces, while 45% (27 people) died in prisons, mainly due to torture in police remand and medical negligence. Almost all of the deceased were leaders, activists, or supporters of the Bangladesh Awami League, although minority communities, workers, and non-political citizens were also victims of killings.

The report mentioned that during a peaceful protest rally in Gopalganj, the army opened fire and killed five people. In addition, in Gaibandha and Gopalganj, Awami League supporters were killed through brutal physical torture by joint forces. In Khagrachhari, three indigenous people were killed by joint forces’ firing following a communal attack.

Furthermore, six leaders and supporters were killed in various prisons due to physical torture in police remand. In Dhaka, two garment workers, including one woman, were killed in police firing during a wage movement. In Barishal, a child was killed in Rapid Action Battalion (RAB) firing. In Bogura prison, five leaders lost their lives due to medical negligence.

JMBF’s observation showed that the highest number of incidents occurred in Dhaka Division, where 23 incidents caused 28 victims. After that, in Chattogram, 21 people were killed in 17 incidents. This means that 70% of the total incidents occurred in politically important regions like Dhaka and Chattogram, the report stated.

Apart from this, significant incidents also occurred in Rajshahi, Khulna, Sylhet, Rangpur, Barishal, and Mymensingh divisions, though fewer in number. While in Dhaka and Chattogram more people died directly at the hands of security forces, in Rajshahi custodial deaths were higher.

According to the report, besides the police, the army, joint forces, Rapid Action Battalion (RAB), Coast Guard, Navy, Air Force, intelligence agencies, and the Department of Narcotics Control were also involved in these incidents. This wide involvement indicates that the problem is not isolated accidents, but rather the result of a massive failure of accountability of state agencies, JMBF believes.

Among the causes of death, torture and subsequent deaths in prisons following torture in remand accounted for the highest number. After that, many were killed by direct shooting, JMBF mentioned in the published report.

In addition, it noted that with specific intent and purpose, leaders, activists, and supporters of the opposition political ideology Bangladesh Awami League, and inhabitants of indigenous communities in the Chittagong Hill Tracts, were deliberately killed through official negligence and medical negligence.

The deceased were not limited only to political opponents. Almost half of the deceased were affiliated with Bangladesh Awami League politics, while the rest were members of the Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP), hill-based political parties, or ordinary citizens without political affiliation. This shows that custodial deaths are not only politically targeted but also pose risks for all citizens in state custody, the report stated.

According to the report, out of 70 deaths in extrajudicial killings and custodial deaths, families of only seven victims were initially able to take legal steps. The remaining 63 families—that is, 90% of the families—could not take legal action due to fear and a repressive environment. JMBF described this situation as a “deeply entrenched culture of impunity.”

This situation perpetuates a culture of immunity in the country and further reduces people’s trust in state institutions. The report also mentioned that although the interim government admitted the need for reforms in law enforcement and the judiciary, progress is slow and no effective steps have yet been taken.

Robert Simon, a prominent French human rights activist and chief advisor of JMBF, said, “This report is not only a record of atrocities committed in Bangladesh but also a roadmap for accountability. The international community must recognize that ongoing extrajudicial killings and custodial deaths in Bangladesh are not isolated incidents—they are part of a planned attack on human rights and democracy. If urgent action is not taken now against these incidents, Bangladesh will very soon turn into a fascist state, which is extremely alarming.”

Advocate Shahanur Islam, prominent human rights lawyer and founding president of JMBF, said, “Instead of keeping promises, the Yunus administration has turned state institutions into tools of repression. Police, army, and prison authorities are carrying out human rights violations with complete impunity, while the judiciary has been compromised. An almost autocratic situation has been created in Bangladesh, and the silence of the international community is encouraging this repression.”

In its report, JMBF, through urgent recommendations, called upon the interim government to immediately stop all kinds of extrajudicial killings and custodial torture, to form an independent international investigation commission, and to bring the accused to justice under existing law.

In addition, the JMBF report called for the restoration of judicial independence, strengthening of social organizations, and appealed to the international community, such as the United Nations, European Union, International Criminal Court, and foreign governments, to identify and impose sanctions on the accused, suspend security cooperation, and consider referring the situation in Bangladesh to the International Criminal Court.