Those convicted by ICT ineligible to participate in polls: Bangladesh AG

DHAKA: Bangladesh's attorney general Md Asaduzzaman on Saturday said those convicted by the International Crimes Tribunal (ICT) are ineligible to participate in elections, days after the tribunal sentenced Awami League chief Sheikh Hasina to six months imprisonment for contempt of court.Asaduzzaman remarks come ahead of the next year's national polls, pending since the fall of Hasina's govt in Aug last year. He also said the ICT's jurisdiction is over individuals as well as organisations implicated in "crimes against humanity" - in cases of which Hasina, who is in India, is being tried by the ICT in absentia.The AG said Awami League is the name of a banned entity and if anyone is linked with it directly or indirectly, he or she will have to face legal consequences. Referring to Hasina's tenure, he said during the last "fascist period", many of those who represented the so-called civil society, including teachers, lawyers and journalists, stepped into the "footsteps of dictatorship and played an impeccable role in turning Bangladesh into a fascist state."