Citing Anti-Terrorism Law, Bangladesh's Interim Govt Bans Awami League

New Delhi: The interim government of Bangladesh has banned all activities of the Awami League, the political party headed by the country’s ousted former Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina.

The Awami League was banned citing an anti-terrorism law of the country, reported Deutsche Welle.

"It has been decided to ban the activities, including in cyberspace, of the Awami League under the Anti-Terrorism Act until the trial of the Awami League and its leaders ends," the country's law advisor Asif Nazrul told reporters late on Saturday (May 10).

Officials said that the ban on Awami League will continue till a special tribunal completes a trial of the party and its leaders over the deaths of hundreds of people during anti-government protests that took place last year.

After a special cabinet meeting on Saturday, Nazrul said that the ban would “"safeguard the witnesses of the tribunal."

Earlier, thousands of protesters had held sit-ins in Bangladesh’s capital Dhaka since the past few days and said that they wouldn’t leave the streets until the Awami League was banned.

The Awami League rejected the ban and termed it “illegitimate.”

Hasina, the head of Awami League and former prime minister of Bangladesh, had departed for India on August 5 aboard a special flight provided by the Bangladesh army.

Her departure occurred with less than an hour’s notice as protesters converged on the prime minister’s office, marking the climax of the student-led movement that ended 15 years of Awami League rule.

Since then, Bangladesh has formally requested India to extradite Hasina.

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