SK Sinha seeks political asylum in Canada

Desk Report: Former Chief Justice is seeking asylum in Canada, claiming he was threatened for refusing to support political interference that would have given parliament greater power to axe dissenting judges.

Surendra Kumar Sinha, 68, has been in exile — most recently in the United States — since November 2017, three months after he rejected what he alleges was a request from Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina to rule in favour of her government’s constitutional amendment.

Sinha, crossed into Canada at Fort Erie on July 4 and filed a refugee claim, reports the Canadian news outlet.

“I was being targeted because I was an activist judge. I delivered judgments that provoked bureaucrats, the establishment, politicians and even terrorists,” Sinha told the Star in an interview this week. “I am the enemy of the country, the persona non grata.”

Earlier this month, Bangladeshi media reported that the country’s Anti-Corruption Commission had charged the ex-chief justice and 10 others, including a former bank executive, with graft, money laundering and abuse of power. The commission did not respond to the Star’s inquiry about the charges, which Sinha vehemently denies.

Bangladesh’s high commissioner to Canada denies Sinha’s accusations.

“All I can tell you is since he left Bangladesh, he has been making these inaccurate statements about the government,” Mizanur Rahman told the Star in a phone interview from Ottawa. “He is absolutely under no threat to return to the country. He is making these statements just to strengthen his refugee claim.”

Earlier on September 30 last year, Justice Sinha sought political asylum in the US citing risks to his life in Bangladesh. But he did not get any positive response from the country.

Sinha, Bangladesh’s first non-Muslim chief justice, left the country on October 13 last year for Australia.

He later sent his resignation letter on November 10. The president accepted his resignation on November 14.

An autobiography of Justice Sinha titled “A Broken Dream: Rule of Law, Human Rights and Democracy” came out on September 16.

Source: Agencies

risingbd/July 26, 2019/Mukul