"Bangladesh legal harassment of HRDs and civil society leaders", 5 September 2023

"We are very concerned by the continued intimidation and harassment of human rights advocates and civil society leaders through legal proceedings in Bangladesh, including Nobel laureate Mohammad Yunus, known for his work on poverty alleviation through Grameen Bank, and two leaders of the respected human rights organization Odhikar.

UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Volker Türk calls on the Bangladeshi authorities to create a safe and enabling environment for human rights defenders and other civil society representatives to carry out their essential work for the welfare and protection of all people in Bangladesh.

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We have also been following closely the cases brought against the leaders of the Odhikar organization, Adilur Rahman Khan and Nasiruddin Elan, in which the verdicts are due to be delivered on Thursday 7 September. The criminal charges relate to a fact-finding report they compiled 10 years ago on extra-judicial killings. Both have faced harassment and intimidation, and their organisation’s licence was not renewed.

The legal harassment of civil society leaders, human rights defenders and other dissenting voices, is a worrying sign for civic and democratic space in Bangladesh. These cases also represent an important test for the independence of the judiciary in Bangladesh."