Bangladesh seeks UN help to probe killing of uprising leader

DHAKA: Bangladesh has requested assistance from the United Nations human rights office for an investigation into the killing of Sharif Osman Hadi, a popular leader in the country’s 2024 youth-led uprising, the government said Sunday.

The Bangladeshi mission in Geneva had sent a diplomatic note requesting the Office of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) to support a “fair, impartial and expeditious” probe into the killing, the interim government’s press wing said.

“The note requests technical and institutional assistance from the UN human rights office to support the investigation,” it added.

Hadi, 32, was shot by masked assailants in Dhaka last December and later died of his injuries at a hospital in Singapore. His death set off a wave of violent protests.

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Hadi had planned to run as an independent candidate in polls taking place on Thursday to determine the country’s first elected government since the overthrow of former prime minister Sheikh Hasina.

The interim government, which is led by Nobel laureate Muhammad Yunus, also reiterated its commitment to ensuring “the highest standards of transparency and accountability” in the case and pledged to identify and prosecute those responsible.

Hadi was an outspoken critic of India, where Hasina has taken refuge since fleeing Dhaka in the wake of the July 2024 uprising that overthrew her government.

His supporters hailed him as a martyr and a symbol of the anti-establishment youth movement reshaping Bangladesh’s volatile political landscape.