‘Recording Everything in Red-Green Notebooks for 22 Months’
Hasanul Haq Inu being taken to court. Photo: Agamir Somoy
Police produced former Awami League Information Minister Hasanul Haq Inu before a court during a hearing on an application to show him arrested in a case filed over the attempted murder of a man named Md. Mokhleshin during the July movement. The hearing took place on Monday in the court of Dhaka Metropolitan Magistrate Nazmin Akter.
Addressing the judge, Inu said, “I have maintained a green notebook and a red notebook in prison. For the past 22 months, I have documented everything, what court officials and employees have done, what members of the judicial administration have done, and what various authorities have done. The court deliberately harassed us by making us sit in the holding cell for four and a half hours. It put my life at risk.”
“While in power, Dr. Yunus said a breeze of democracy was flowing across the country. Has that breeze not reached the court premises? The court is now functioning as a branch of the Home Ministry. Through you (the judge), I would like to tell the honorable prime minister that he has spoken about democracy in many places. But democracy has yet to reach the court premises,” he added.
Responding to the remarks, state prosecutor Harun Or Rashid said Inu’s comments amounted to contempt of court. By referring to the red and green notebooks, he had threatened the court. The prosecution requested action against him. The judge said he would issue an order on the matter later.
Authorities brought former minister Rashed Khan Menon and Hasanul Haq Inu from prison to the court on the day. They were produced before the court around 1:50 pm The court then held the hearing in their presence. After the hearing, the court ordered that they be shown arrested in the case and sent to jail.
Earlier, on June 18, the case's investigating officer, SI Ashraf Hossain of Banshal Police Station, filed an application seeking to show them arrested in the case.
According to the case statement, attackers assaulted and opened fire on protesters in the Nazimuddin Road area under Banshal Police Station at around 10 am on August 5, 2024, during the July movement. Mokhleshin sustained gunshot injuries in the incident. After recovering from his injuries, he filed the case on January 29, 2025.
