The BNP-led 18-Party alliance has objected to the decision to cancel permanently the voting rights of those convicted under Collaborators Order and at International Crimes Tribunal.
BNP Acting Secretary General Mirza Fakhrul Islam Alamgir opposed the move a day after the cabinet gave its final approval to ‘Voter list (second amendment) Act, 2013’.
“This is completely against human rights. These matters have not yet been fully resolved.”
The cabinet on Monday gave its approval to a proposal to ban from voting those convicted under Bangladesh Collaborators (Special Tribunals) Order 1972 and the International Crimes Act.
So far six have been convicted at the International Crimes Tribunal for committing crimes against humanity during the Liberation War.
Among them five are top leaders of Jamaat-e-Islami, a key ally of the 18-Party alliance and the other a former Jamaat leader.
Fakhrul urged that the move to permanently drop them from the voting list be postponed until the appeals filed at the Supreme Court against the ICT verdicts are resolved.
He emphasised that the decision to take away their voting rights is ‘completely illegal, and against the rule of law’.- bdnews24.com
