[From Rahnuma Ahmed]
Dear friends,
Moshrefa Mishu, president of the Garments Workers Unity Forum, is severely ill and has been admitted to Dhaka Medical College Hospital (DMCH).
Mishu was produced in CMM court today (19 December), for the third time, since she was picked up from her house in the early hours of December 14.
Some of us had gone to the courthouse to express solidarity -- Gitiara Nasreen (Dhaka University), Anu Mohammad (Jahangirnagar University), Mehedi Hasan (writer) and Barrister Sadia Arman. Giti had left by the time Mishu was brought to the court as she had urgent work -- but we were horrified at the state of Mishu's health which rapidly worsened, and later led to her hospitalisation.
Today the police sought another 10-day remand to further investigate their fabricated allegations: vandalism, links with Jamaat-e-Islami; they were granted 2 days.
Sadia was allowed to enter the courtroom since she's a lawyer, while the rest of us, including her sister Jebunnessa, were not. Sadia found Mishu seated in a bench at the back of the room, with two policewomen on either side. Mishu was having difficulty in breathing, she was panting and gasping for breath as she spoke. This is what she told Sadia: that short of physically beating her, the DB police had tortured her in every possible manner. That she had returned to Dhaka from Narsingdi on 12th night; had been feeling exhausted, had wanted to rest a bit, had declined to attend a programme but had promised to participate in a later one, on December 16. That she did not know why she was being detained, that she hadn't been told, that she did not know anything.
Ten to twelve lawyers were present to defend Mishu alongwith her counsel Zahiruddin Mollah; Sadia too, joined in Mishu's defence by pointing out that Mishu had not been present in Dhaka, let alone at the spot where she was accused of having participated in acts of vandalism. While the hearing proceeded, Sadia went to Mishu and asked her whether she could stand up so that the magistrate could see the poor state of her health, but Mishu was too ill to do so, not even with the help of two policewoman seated beside her. Sadia requested the magistrate to look at Mishu and judge for himself whether he thought she would be able to withstand another two days remand, but the magistrate had already begun signing the order. Mr Mollah and all other lawyers pleaded that Mishu be allowed medical treatment.
Anu, Mehedi, and myself were unable to approach her because she was closely surrounded by police, we caught fleeting glimpses of her when she left the courtroom, tottering on her legs, and later, being helped down the stairs by two policewomen. We could clearly see that she was unable to walk by herself.
On my way home, I received a phone call from Anu; Mishu had been hospitalised, he said. She was sent to the National Hospital (old Dhaka) where she had to be helped on to a wheelchair, she was given a nebuliser to ease breathing difficulties. In the hospital, she was given oxygen. National Hospital authorities soon referred her to the Post-Graduate hospital (PG/Shahbagh). Her condition had deteriorated further; while she had entered NH sitting in a wheelchair, she left it lying on a stretcher.
Her breathing difficulties worsened, she was given oxygen at PG; her back pain (caused by her spinal injury) became unbearable. Soon PG authorities referred her to DMCH, she is there now, in the emergency section.
From what we can gather, she has fallen severely ill because,
*she was without medicine for more than 24 hours
*despite being an asthma patient, she was forced to lie on the cold floor of DB Headquarters with only a thin blanket to lie on, and a thin quilt as cover
*by the time her sister was allowed to drop her medicine at DB Headquarters, she was already very ill, the nebuliser was unable to provide any relief
*she told Jebu that she would prefer prison because she would have certain hours to herself at night, whereas at the DB HQ she was interrogated at all odd hours, both during the day and at night
We have reason to believe that sections of the media are under pressure to not report against the illegality and injustice of her imprisonment and remand. Media reporting as it stands is prejudiced as is obvious from statements such as these, "She was arrested in the early hours on Tuesday from the city's Hatirpool area..." http://www.bdnews24.com/details.php?id=181731&cid=2 omitting to mention that she was picked up without an arrest warrant, from her home.
Besides being arrested without a warrant, besides being investigated for incidents where her name is not metioned in the police FIRs (three), we were told by members of her family that members of the DB police at DB HQ had told Jebunnessa today that they would provide Mishu with hot water tomorrow so that she could take a bath, that her family should send home-cooked bhat-daal meals from tomorrow instead of take-away food. What made them so sure that the remand would be extended? Is there government pressure on the judicial process?
What happened today makes it ever more urgent that we act immediately and exert pressure on the government to free Moshrefa Mishu immediately, through spreading the word, contacting human rights and labour organisations, registering protests with Bangladesh government officials, embassies abroad.
Her family members and co-workers are very worried and anxious, as are we.
In solidarity/r
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