The High Court has granted bail to former textiles and jute minister Abdul Latif Siddique in a case filed under the Anti-Terrorism Act with Shahbagh police station in Dhaka.
Following this order, there is no legal barrier to his release, according to his lawyer.
The order was issued on Thursday by a High Court bench comprising Justice ASM Abdul Mobin and Justice Sagir Hossain after hearing his bail petition.
Advocate ZI Khan Panna represented the bail petition in court, while Assistant Attorneys General Ibrahim Khalil and Al Amin Hossain appeared for the state.
Later, Assistant Attorney General Ibrahim Khalil said that an appeal would be filed with the Appellate Division challenging the bail order.
Commenting on the matter, Bangabir Kader Siddique told reporters: “People of this country, including us, have faith in the judiciary. My brother Latif Siddique’s bail proves that. I thank the judiciary.”
Earlier, on August 29, a Dhaka court had ordered the imprisonment of former minister Abdul Latif Siddique, Dhaka University professor Karzon, and 14 others in the same case filed under the Anti-Terrorism Act.
The order was passed by Dhaka Metropolitan Magistrate Sarah Farzana Haque.
The case was filed by Sub-Inspector Md Amirul Islam of Shahbagh Police Station.
On that day, the investigating officer of the case and Shahbagh Police Sub-Inspector Toufiq Hasan requested that the accused be kept in jail.
Defense lawyers filed a bail petition, which was opposed by Additional Public Prosecutor Shamsuddoha Suman. After hearing both sides, the court denied bail and ordered the accused to be sent to jail.
According to the case statement, on August 28 at around 10am, a roundtable discussion was held at the Dhaka Reporters Unity auditorium under the banner of “Moncho 71.” During the event, Abdul Latif Siddique allegedly delivered an inciting speech, calling for an armed movement to destabilize the country and overthrow the interim government, encouraging others to follow suit. Later, police detained 16 individuals from among the 70–80 attendees.
During interrogation, police claimed that the organization “Moncho 71,” which was formed on August 5, aimed to prepare people for sacrifice to resist attempts to distort the history of the Liberation War.
However, police alleged that the platform was being used to plot the overthrow of the government.
