The US sanction in the month of victory will encourage militancy but it will not affect the existing Bangladesh-US relations, the minister says
Awami League General Secretary Obaidul Quader on Monday said the recent US sanction on seven former and incumbent officers of Rapid Action Battalion (RAB) will not put any impact on the next general election.
“The US sanction in the month of victory will encourage militancy but it will not affect the existing Bangladesh-US relations,” he told reporters after a meeting at the Awami League president’s political office in the city’s Dhanmondi area.
Quader, also the road transport and bridges minister, said there is no reason to get the next election impacted by the US sanction
We will hold out our elections. Do we hold the elections as per the advice of the United States?” he questioned.
Earlier, Quader said the US sanctions on the IGP and six RAB officials have been politically motivated, adding that the decision will inspire terrorism and militancy.
The United States on Friday imposed human rights-related sanctions on Benazir Ahmed, current inspector general of the Bangladesh Police and former director general of RAB, and six other individuals on the occasion of International Human Rights Day.
The US Department of State announced visa restrictions on Benazir Ahmed, which it says, due to his “involvement in gross violations of human rights” making him ineligible for entry into the United States.
RAB as an entity, Benazir Ahmed, and six other officials were designated by the Department of the Treasury under the Global Magnitsky sanctions program in connection with serious human rights abuse, said the US Department of State
BSS
