The Bangladesh High Court rejected on Thursday a writ petition filed by Mostafizur Rahman Chowdhary, an Awami League-nominated candidate, and affirmed the decision of the Election Commission (EC) of Bangladesh to cancel Chowdhary’s candidacy for Chittagong-16 amid allegations that Chowdhary assaulted a journalist and threatened police.

Justices Abu Taher Md Saifur Rahman and Md Bashir Ullah rejected the petition ruling that the writ petition was not presented properly and suggested that an appeal could be moved to a tribunal before the EC. The Election Commission secretary Mohammad Jahangir Alam alleged that the EC decided to cancel Chowdhary’s candidacy at the last stage of voting which took place on January 7 due to threats made against law enforcement. On the day of the recent election, Chowdhary allegedly went to the police station and threatened them saying that he would “chop off their hands if they arrested his followers” as action was being taken against his followers who were allegedly trying to disrupt polling.

Chowdhary has been contesting the election from Chittagong-16 for the third consecutive time, and previously won parliamentary elections in 2014 and 2018. Last year, on November 30, Chowdhary and his supporters allegedly assaulted Rokib Uddin, a reporter for Independent TV, and verbally abused him.  It was reported that Chowdhary committed an “electoral crime” under article 73 and article 84A of the Representation of the People Order (RPO), 1972. Chowdhary surrendered before the court on January 3 and secured a bail over allegations of violating the Candidate’s election Code of Conduct, 2008 and assaulting a journalist.

Bangladesh conducted its 12th parliamentary election on January 7 which witnessed widespread violence, arrests and detentions.  The election saw the incumbent Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina winning her fifth term. The election was boycotted by the opposition party who called it a “sham”. The United Nations expressed concern over the violence during the election period.