"Thousands of opposition activists languish in prison as Bangladesh gears up for national election", 6 January 2024

The BNP has accused Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina's government of a major crackdown targeting its supporters and opposition politicians on what they say are trumped-up charges in the lead-up to the polls. They claimed that over 20,000 of their members have been jailed in recent months.

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CIVICUS, a nonprofit that tracks civic freedoms around the world, recently downgraded Bangladesh to “closed,” the worst rating that it could assign, along with China and Venezuela, following the latest crackdown on opposition supporters.

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The BNP and other opposition parties had previously announced a boycott of the election, saying they could not trust the current administration to run it fairly. They repeatedly demanded Hasina’s resignation and for a caretaker government to oversee the election.

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Rights groups have called the polls a farce, and fear that it follows a pattern.