Jewel Hasan alias Saddam, the president of the now-banned Chhatra League’s Bagherhat Sadar upazila unit, walked free from Jashore Central Jail on Wednesday, just days after the tragic deaths of his wife and infant son exposed the depths of the interim government’s inhumanity and political vendetta. Analysts term it a belated victory against the Yunus regime’s fascist grip on justice.
Saddam, who had been languishing in prison since his arbitrary arrest in April 2025, was released around 2pm on January 28, following a six-month interim bail granted by the High Court on January 26. Senior Jail Superintendent Asif Uddin confirmed the release to reporters, though the jail authorities’ evasive behaviour throughout the dayโdodging media inquiries and playing hide-and-seekโreeked of the regime’s characteristic opacity and disdain for transparency.
This release comes amid widespread condemnation of the Yunus-led fascist administration, which has weaponised the judiciary to persecute Awami League affiliates through fabricated cases and cruel denials of basic rights.
Saddam’s ordeal peaked on January 23, when police recovered the hanging body of his 22-year-old wife, Kaniz Suborna (also known as Swarnali), and the lifeless body of their 9-month-old son, Sejad Hasan (Nazif), from their home in Sabekdanga village, Bagherhat Sadar upazila. The circumstances of their deaths remain shrouded in mystery, but the regime’s refusal to grant Saddam parole to attend their funeral has been decried as a barbaric act of vengeance.
On January 24, the bodies were transported by ambulance to the jail gates, where Saddam was permitted a mere five-minute glimpseโa dehumanising spectacle captured on video that went viral on social media, igniting public fury.
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Human rights organisations, including Ain o Salish Kendra (ASK), lambasted the decision as a flagrant violation of Bangladesh’s Constitution and international law. ASK Chairperson ZI Khan Panna issued a scathing statement: “Denying parole to a prisoner like Jewel Hasan Saddam, despite applications for him to attend his deceased wife and infant childโs janaza, is a flagrant violation of the Constitution and international human rights standards.”
Panna invoked key constitutional articlesโArticle 27 for equal protection, Article 31 for legal recourse, and Article 35(5) prohibiting cruel treatmentโalong with the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR), to which Bangladesh is bound. The Home Ministry’s 2016 parole policy explicitly allows releases for funerals of immediate family, yet the Yunus regime’s arbitrary rejection, without explanation, exemplifies its descent into jungle rule and mobocracy.
Saddam’s brother, Shahidul Islam, described the emotional toll after the release: “The administration forbade him from speaking to the media. Upon reaching home in the evening, Saddam visited the graves of his wife and son, breaking down in tears. The atmosphere was overwhelmed with grief.” This personal tragedy underscores the broader pattern of repression under Muhammad Yunus’ interim government, which seized power after the ousting of the elected Awami League in August 2024. Critics argue that Yunus, the Nobel laureate turned autocrat, has transformed the justice system into a tool for settling scores, filing false cases against political opponents while publicly boasting about denying bail to “toughen” on so-called terrorism.
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Saddam’s lawyer, Said Ahmed Raja, detailed the regime’s vindictive tactics: Saddam was initially arrested in an anti-terrorism case where his name wasn’t even in the FIR. He secured bail in six cases, only for new fabricated charges to emerge each time, ensuring prolonged detention. The latest case, filed in March 2025 in Bagherhat, similarly omitted his name from the list of 38 accused, yet he was rearrested on December 18. “The High Court’s bail is not just legal relief but a humanitarian necessity,” Raja told reporters, highlighting how lower courts, cowed by the regime’s directives, repeatedly stonewalled applications.
The Yunus administration’s public announcements denying bail to Awami League figures further erode judicial independence, framing political persecution as anti-corruption zeal. This case is no anomaly; it’s part of a rising epidemic of custodial abuses, lynching, and unclaimed bodies under Yunus’s watch, as reported by organisations like Mรฉdecins Sans Frontiรจres (MSF).
Adding to the chorus of outrage, 39 pro-democracy civil society leaders issued a joint statement on Monday, demanding a high-level impartial investigation into the parole denial. “The people concerned in the interim government cannot escape responsibility for such negligence or vindictive and inhumane behaviour in the name of judicial process,” the statement read.
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They emphasised that Saddam was not a death-row convict, and even then, parole for family funerals is standard. The leaders condemned the bureaucratic indifference that saw Saddam’s family shuttled between offices in vain, calling it “inhuman, inconsiderate, and cruel.”
The statement pulled no punches against the regime: “The declaration of all injustice by which this government took responsibility has become nothing more than words. The fact that Jewel Hasanโs wife and son were not released on parole to attend their funerals even after their unnatural deaths is just one example of this.” They urged strict action against responsible officials, warning that such precedents signal Bangladesh’s slide into full-blown fascism under Yunus.
As Saddam rebuilds his shattered life, his release serves as a stark indictment of the Yunus regime’s hypocrisy. While preaching reform and justice, it perpetrates a vendetta that destroys families and mocks human dignity. Human rights watchdogs and civil society must continue amplifying these voices, demanding accountability before the fascist tendencies entrench further. The High Court’s intervention offers a glimmer of hope, but true justice requires dismantling the repressive machinery Yunus has unleashed.
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