WORLD NEWS

Hours after the Interna-tional Crimes Tribunal-2 (ICT) punished its three leaders for contempt of court charge, Bangladesh Jamaat-e-Islami on Sunday called a nationwide dawn-to-dusk hartal for Monday, reports UNB.
"I announce a countrywide daylong all-out hartal for tomorrow (Monday) demanding an end to mass arrest and torture across the country, and the release of the arrested leaders, withdrawal of false cases and restoration of the caretaker government," Jamaat acting ameer Makbul Ahmed said in a press release.
He, however, said the four city corporations-Rajshahi, Khulna, Sylhet and Barisal-will remain out of the purview of the shutdown due to elections to those cities slated for June 15.
"I urge the country's people from all walks of life, including Alem and Ulema, workers, employees, intellectuals, journalists, businesses, civil society members and students, to make the hartal a success," Makbul said.
He alleged that the government has continued a wholesale arrest and torture across the country to annihilate Jamaat. "They're conspiring to punish the Jamaat leaders by filing false and fabricated cases against them."
The Jamaat acting chief said the current regime in its 54 months' rule arrested around 43,000 leaders and activists of Jamaat and Islami Chhatra Shibir, and filed 26,000 cases against them.
Earlier in the day, the ICT-2 punished the three Jamaat leader: Hamidur Rahman Azad, MP, acting secretary general of the party Rafiqul Islam Khan and assistant secretary general of Dhaka city unit Selim Uddin-for contempt of court.
Of them, Rafiqul Islam and Azad, now on the run, were sentenced to three months' imprisonment in absentia and fined Tk 3,000 each, in default, to suffer two months more in jail.
On the other, the court fined Selim Tk 1,000 and asked him not to leave the court until its proceeding ends for the day. Earlier, Selim sought unconditional apology for his comments.
Reacting to the punishment of the three leaders, Makbul said the Jamaat leaders were deprived of justice.
He alleged that though the ministers and ruling party leaders are making comments that amount to contempt of court the tribunal even did not ask them to appear before the court in person.
The Islamist party acting chief said the aim of the government is to root out Jamaat by punishing its leaders on any ground.