Bangladesh Opposition Leader Charged with Sedition for Meeting Israeli Official

Aslam Chowdhury, a joint secretary of the main opposition Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP), was arrested last week after local media reported he had met an Israeli government adviser in India in March.

Bangladesh police on Thursday charged Aslam Chowdhury, a senior opposition official, with sedition for allegedly plotting against the state when he met an Israeli government adviser, an official said, according to Pakistan Today.

Dhaka Metropolitan Police spokesman Masudur Rahman said Chowdhury was now charged with sedition and could face up to three years if convicted.

“We have filed a sedition case against Aslam Chowdhury after we received a greenlight from the home ministry,” Rahman told AFP.

The case was filed hours after the national police chief told reporters that police had “found evidence” that “Chowdhury conspired with an Israeli politician to overthrow” the ruling government.

Chowdhury, a tycoon from the southern city of Chittagong, has denied plotting against the government and told reporters he met the Israeli adviser during a “personal business trip” to India.

The report did not state the Israeli official’s name or function.

Bangladesh has no diplomatic ties with Israel and Bangladeshis are banned from traveling to the country. Critics say the arrest was part of a crackdown Hasina’s government has launched against the country’s main opposition parties, which include the BNP and its Islamist ally, Jamaat-i-islami.

Bangladesh, a Muslim-majority country, has been hit by a political crisis since the BNP and other opposition parties boycotted the general election in 2014.

By: United with Israel Staff

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