David Bergman

I wrote this in a recent article on the more than two year detention, by #Bangladesh's International Crimes Tribunal, of Dr Tawfiq-e-Elahi Chowdhury, power, energy and mineral resources adviser to former prime minister Sheikh Hasina: "I will stick my neck out. If prosecutors bring a formal charge against Chowdhury in November, it will be evidentially unfounded, and built on a misunderstanding and misapplication of the offence of crime against humanity." A Prothom Alo report now suggests that is exactly what the prosecutors intend to do. ICT prosecutors are increasingly acting less as lawyers than as performers in a theatre of retribution, detached from facts and law, and constructing false narratives suggesting complicity in serious crimes that have no legal or factual foundation. (see links in comments)

On 23 September, I wrote about Rabiul Islam Robi. An Indian national who had been slipping in and out of Bangladesh for years crossed at Satkhira this time and met people from a banned outfit and gathered sensitive information. We asked for one thing: question him properly. Don't let this end the way the others did. The Detective Branch today filed a case against him at Uttara West Police Station under the Official Secrets Act, and a Dhaka court sent him on seven days' remand. The case says he used business as cover, stayed in contact with a foreign intelligence agency, and tried to pass on photographs of government installations, restricted areas and sensitive documents. Police say he entered through the Bhomra land port on 14 September, that his Indian passport lists Riyadh as his birthplace, and that he has been visiting mostly on tourist visas for 10 to 12 years. Charging an Indian citizen under official secrets acts and accusing him of espionage activities, by name, in open court, tells Delhi that Bangladesh is nobody's backyard. I'll give credit where it's due. This took nerve, and the government found it. Robi says he is being harassed for no reason. Fine. That's for the court to decide. Lay the evidence out, test it, and let the verdict land where it lands. But one lesson is already clear. A country that wants respect has to hold its own ground. Today, Bangladesh did.

Channeling my Mo Mowlam powers on Bangladesh. Everyone is whistling to the same tune, so why is Bangladesh such a mess on the political front? @TheDavidBergman @nomhossain @CharlesTannock @jeremycorbyn @albd1971 @bdbnp78

Tonight on Question Time, I debated Suella Braverman on what it means to be English. I think there’s one word for her position

"I don't quite know where I got it wrong." At Labour party conference, Novara Media's @MichaeljsWalker asked Emily Thornberry whether she regretted her comments that Israel had an "absolute right to defend itself" when asked if cutting off food, water and electricity to Gaza was within international law. The comments were made to BBC Newsnight in 2023 when she was shadow Attorney General.