Indemnity Act (Bangladesh)

The Indemnity Act of Bangladesh was formulated to give immunity from legal action to the persons involved in the assassination of president Sheikh Mujibur Rahman. The assassination took place on August 15, 1975.[1]

As the parliament of Bangladesh, the Jatiya Sangsad, was not in session, the law was promulgated on September 26, 1975, in the form of an ordinance by President Khondaker Mostaq Ahmad. It was titled Indemnity Ordinance 1975, being Ordinance No. 50 of 1975. It was made a formal statute by Major General Ziaur Rahman and later approved by the Jatiyo Sangshad[2] by the fifth amendment to the constitution brought about on July 9, 1979, the Indeminity Act became enshrined in the Constitution of Bangladesh.[3]

Initially the legislation gave immunity to the persons involved in the assassination of Sheikh Mujibur Rahman, which took place on August 15, 1975 but later Zia and Ershad further extended the law to legalise the military coups, martial law decrees and orders and other political events and decrees promulgated under their rule.[4]

The Indemnity Act was repealed after the Awami League formed a government with Sheikh Hasina, the daughter of Sheikh Mujib, as Prime Minister of Bangladesh. The parliament scrapped the Indemnity Act on November 12, 1996.[5] This paved the way for the trial of the killers of Sheikh Mujib.

A 2005 court ruling further pronounced the rule of Ziaur Rahman and the coup overthrowing Sheikh Mujib as illegal. Later it was ratified by the parliament.

In February 2010 the fifth amendment to the constitution was declared illegal by the High Court of Bangladesh.[6]

References
  1. Islam, Md. Nazrul (2003). "Indemnity Act". In Islam, Sirajul; Jamal, Ahmed A. (eds.). Banglapedia: National Encyclopedia of Bangladesh (First ed.). Asiatic Society of Bangladesh. Archived from the original on December 24, 2007.
  2. "Long shadow of indemnity". Shakhawat Liton. Daily star. 26 November 2009. Retrieved 2 January 2019.
  3. "The Long Road to Justice for Bangladesh's War Criminals". Abed Khan. The Diplomat. 12 October 2014. Retrieved 2 January 2019.
  4. "Indemnity laws a black spot in Bangladesh's human rights record". Bdnews24.com. 15 August 2009. Retrieved 2 January 2019.
  5. HighBeam
  6. "Awami League government led by Sheikh Hasina (1996-2001) and its success". Bangladesh Awami League. Archived from the original on 24 July 2008. Retrieved 6 December 2008.
This article is issued from Wikipedia. The text is licensed under Creative Commons - Attribution - Sharealike. Additional terms may apply for the media files.