Bangladesh violence: UN human rights chief urges probe into student leader’s killing

United Nations Human Rights Chief Volker Türk on Friday voiced his concerns about the killing of Sharif Osman Bin Hadi, a prominent leader in the 2024 student protest that led to the ouster of the Sheikh Hasina government.

Hadi had been shot on December 12 while he was leaving a mosque in Dhaka. He died on Thursday at a hospital in Singapore, where he had been flown for treatment, Prothom Alo reported. The authorities have accused a person identified as Faisal Karim Masud of shooting Hadi and named another person, Alamgir Sheikh, as his accomplice.

After the news of Hadi’s death broke on Thursday night, his supporters took to the streets of Dhaka, demanding action against his killers.

Protesters vandalised the offices of two Bangladeshi newspapers – Prothom Alo and The Daily Star. As a result, the print edition of the papers could not be published on Friday. The online portals were also temporarily unavailable on Friday.

The UN human rights chief called for calm, adding that “retaliation and revenge will only deepen divisions and undermine the rights of all”.

“I urge the authorities to conduct a prompt, impartial, thorough and transparent investigation into the attack that led to Hadi’s death, and to ensure due process and accountability for those responsible,” Türk said in a statement.

The Army was deployed at the...

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