Shawdesh desk:

The US Department of State spokesperson Matthew Miller has said that the United States did not find the January 7 general election in Bangladesh to be free and fair.

Mathew Miller made the remarks on Tuesday while responding to a question during the State Department’s regular briefing at Washington DC.

The questioner mentioned that the Human Rights Commission called for the immediate release of detained political activities – activists in Bangladesh and that the present regime arrested 25,000 opposition members, including top opposition leaders, BNP leaders, to manipulate the January 7th sham election.

He wanted to know what steps the US was taking against the authoritarian regime for undermining democracy given the pre-elections visa restriction policy.

‘So you have heard me speak about our concerns about the parliamentary elections in Bangladesh before. We did not find them to be free and fair. We have also expressed our concerns with the arrest of thousands of political opposition members in the run-up to those elections,’ Matthew Miller said.

‘I will say two things. One, we urge the Bangladeshi Government to ensure a fair and transparent legal process for all of the arrested individuals. We also urge the Bangladeshi Government to allow opposition members and media professionals, civil society representatives, to participate meaningfully in the country’s democratic process and civic life, and we will continue to engage with the Bangladeshi Government to advance that point of view,’ he added.