Forty-six eminent citizens have condemned the police attack on journalists and lawyers during the election of the Supreme Court Bar Association on 15 March.
In a joint statement, the signatories including economist Anu Muhammad, former Dhaka University vice-chancellor Professor Anwarullah Chowdhury, and writer Farhad Mazhar demanded the police officials involved in the assault be brought to justice.
Quoting media reports, they stated that pro-BNP lawyers were protesting at Shaheed Shafiur Rahman Auditorium, the polling station of the Supreme Court Bar Association, demanding the formation of a new election committee.
A large number of policemen entered the auditorium to evict them and attacked the pro-BNP lawyers, it continued.
"As journalists were taking pictures and video footage of the incident, the police officials assaulted them," read the statement.
Protesting the attack, the signatories said police attacks on journalists while discharging duty in the highest court of the country is a brutal example of the state using the police as a means to suppress others.
The attack was a violation of constitutionally recognised civil rights, the statement added.
They called for mutual tolerance and appropriate initiatives to protect the independence of constitutional institutions by bringing the culprits involved in the attack to justice.
