A Bangladeshi migrant has secured the right to remain in Britain after a court ruled that deporting him would likely send him to prison for 20 years.
The man, identified in court as MM, persuaded the Upper Tribunal that Bangladesh convicted him in absentia on false bomb charges tied to his political affiliations, according to The Times of India. He told the court he served as a “political leader” of Islami Chhatra Shibir, the student wing of the Islamist Jamaat-e-Islami party, and that the Awami League government targeted him in 2015 while he was living in Cyprus.
Court records confirmed MM received a 20-year sentence and that authorities issued two outstanding arrest warrants. Judges accepted the documents as authentic. The Home Office, the British government department responsible for immigration, asylum, border control and internal security, acknowledged that the charges likely lacked merit but argued that Bangladesh’s political landscape had shifted after Bangladesh’s ousted prime minister, Sheikh Hasina, and the Awami League left power in August 2024 following months of violent demonstrations.
A United Nations report found that up to 1,400 people died during the uprising, most shot by security forces. Officials maintained that those developments reduced any threat MM might face upon return. Upper Tribunal Judge Madeleine Reeds rejected that assessment and wrote that the preserved findings established the conviction stemmed from politically motivated charges rather than legitimate criminal conduct.
Reeds said that Awami League figures and supporters still occupy positions within government and law enforcement and that Bangladesh remains unstable as authorities revisit cases from the prior regime. The judge said MM faces a “reasonable likelihood” of detention if he returns, adding that his conviction remains in force and carries a lengthy sentence.
Reeds found a real risk that he would not secure bail despite the acknowledged political nature of the charges. The tribunal allowed his appeal, resulting in MM remaining in the United Kingdom.
(Featured Image Media Credit: Wikimedia Commons/Public/Joe Gratz)
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