DHAKA: Several crude bombs exploded in the Bangladesh capital Dhaka on Sunday, police said, heightening tensions ahead of a verdict on Monday in a case against ousted former Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina over violence during street protests last year.
No casualties were reported, but the blasts further unsettled a city already on edge after days of political unrest.
Hasina, 78, is being tried in absentia on charges of crimes against humanity for allegedly ordering a deadly crackdown on student protests in mid-2024. She denies any wrongdoing and has remained in India since fleeing there after her ouster in August last year.
The Dhaka Metropolitan Police Commissioner has instructed officers to open fire on anyone involved in arson or attempts to cause death by hurling crude bombs, local media reported.
Security has been tightened across Dhaka, in Gopalganj — Hasina’s ancestral home and a stronghold for her party — and in two neighboring districts, with Border Guard Bangladesh personnel deployed to reinforce local authorities.
Police and Rapid Action Battalion teams have been positioned around key government buildings and major intersections, leaving parts of the capital unusually quiet.
“It’s very tense — hardly anyone is coming out,” said Ramjan Ali, an autorickshaw driver in Dhaka. “I’ve been on the road since morning, but I’ve barely earned anything today.”
In the days leading up to the verdict, authorities recorded more than 30 crude bomb explosions and reported dozens of buses torched in Dhaka and several other districts.
Dozens of Awami League activists have also been arrested in recent days over alleged involvement in explosions and acts of sabotage.
Bangladesh tense ahead of ousted PM Hasina’s verdict
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Bangladesh tense ahead of ousted PM Hasina’s verdict
- Hasina, 78, is being tried in absentia on charges of crimes against humanity for allegedly ordering a deadly crackdown on student protests in mid-2024
- She denies any wrongdoing and has remained in India since fleeing there after her ouster
Sweden wants to strip organized crime leaders of citizenship
- A bill submitted to parliament on Friday includes a proposal that would allow revoking passports of double citizenship holders convicted of “crimes”
STOCKHOLM: The Swedish government on Friday proposed changes to the constitution that would allow revoking the citizenship of some criminal gang leaders, as part of its work to combat widespread organized crime.
In January, a cross-party parliamentary committee proposed constitutional changes to allow stripping the passports of people with dual nationality convicted of espionage or treason, but stopped short of suggestions targeting organized crime.
“The government has chosen to go further than the committee’s proposal precisely to make it possible to also revoke citizenship from, for example, gang leaders who are guilty of very, very serious harm to society,” Justice Minister Gunnar Strommer told a press conference.
He said a bill submitted to parliament on Friday includes a proposal that would allow revoking passports of double citizenship holders convicted of “crimes that gravely affect vital national interests” such as serious gang crime.
Sweden has been plagued by organized crime-related violence for well over a decade.
The government and its backers, the far-right and anti-immigration Sweden Democrats, won the 2022 election on a promise to reduce immigration and gang crime, which they say are linked. New general elections are due in 2026.
To change the Swedish constitution, the proposals need to pass a vote in parliament with a simple majority, followed by a general election and then a second Riksdag vote.
Strommer said he aims for the proposed changes to the constitution to enter into force at the start of 2027.
