Hasnat Karim: Family of British man who survived Isis attack plead with Government to end 'unlawful detention'

The former professor was celebrating his daughter’s 13th birthday when militants burst in

Hasnat Karim leaves after his court appearance in Dhaka on 13 August (AFP/Getty)

The family of a British man detained for almost two months without charge after surviving an Isis terror attack in Bangladesh is pleading for the Government to help secure his release.

Hasnat Karim’s family say militants forced the father of two to act as a human shield during the siege of the Holey Artisan Bakery Café in Dhaka, where he had been celebrating his daughter’s 13th birthday.

But Bangladeshi authorities suspect him of colluding with jihadists who massacred 20 people, mostly foreigners, after storming the restaurant on 1 July.

Mr Karim disappeared two days later, when he was not released after questioning alongside his wife and children, but police did not publicly admit holding him until 13 August.

No charges have been brought in a series of court appearances and a judge refused another bail application on Wednesday, leaving the 47-year-old detained without access to a lawyer or visitation rights for his family.

Relatives said they fear evidence will be fabricated in the case after several statements from Bangladeshi officials inferring Mr Karim’s guilt.

“This has been an extremely difficult time for our family as he has now been away from us for 54 days,” a statement said.

“We continue to feel confident and full of hope that any further investigation will continue to prove his innocence.

“Hasnat is a loving and devoted father and husband and we will continue to co-operate with the authorities to secure his release.

“We urge the British Government to do whatever they can to ensure that his case will be handled in the most transparent manner.”

The Foreign and Commonwealth Office is aware of the case but has not confirmed any details of their discussions with Bangladeshi security services.

Hasnat Karim leaves after his court appearance in the Bangladesh capital Dhaka on August 13, 2016. (AFP/Getty Images)

Rodney Dixon QC, Mr Karim’s lawyer, said his continued detention is arbitrary and in violation of fundamental rights.

“It is completely unacceptable for Mr Karim still to be in jail when the police have not sought any further remand for their investigations, and especially when there is no evidence against him and no charges have been brought,” he added.

“There is no justification at all for his incarceration with no end in sight. He should be released immediately and at least granted bail. He is an innocent man who only wants to clear his name.”

Mr Dixon said the denial of bail would be immediately appealed and called for the British High Commission in Dhaka to be granted permission to visit Mr Karim, who holds both British and Bangladeshi citizenship.

Authorities are believed to be interrogating him as an accomplice to the atrocity, alongside detained University of Toronto student Tahmid Hasib Khan, who also disappeared after being taken for questioning.

Bangladesh’s national police chief, A.K.M. Shahidul Hoque, told reporters that the two men had fallen under suspicion as a result of their “behaviour and actions” during the siege.

Local media have published footage showing militants talking to Mr Karim on a roof, and seeing him standing by a doorway as armed police surrounded the Holey Artisan Bakery Café.

But a forensic report commissioned by Mr Karim’s legal team said the images showed him to be a victim rather than participant in the terror attack.

Hasnat Karim with his two children, who were with him and their mother during the attack in Bangladesh

Analysts said the available evidence appeared to show the man unarmed and being ordered to carry out tasks by gunmen, at one point being made to stand by a glass wall as a “human shield” to prevent snipers aiming at attackers militants inside the room.

“His actions, demeanour and dress are consistent with that of a kidnap victim rather than a modern terrorist,” the review concluded.

Mr Karim’s wife, Sharmina Parveen, told The Independent she feared her husband would be killed during the 10-hour siege.

“I think they chose him because they knew he would not run away if his family were there too,” she said.

“I cannot describe to you in words how it felt. They kept taking him away and then bringing him back and every time they took him I had no idea if we would ever see him again.”

The family were eventually freed alongside other Bangladeshi hostages after being forced to recite passages of the Quran to prove their Muslim faith.

Security forces stormed the restaurant hours later, killing the five gunmen and rescuing the remaining 13 hostages, while finding the bodies of nine Italians, seven Japanese, three Bangladeshis and one Indian citizen.

Isis claimed responsibility for the atrocity on its propaganda channels, publishing photos of the five militants who carried out the attack posing with the terrorist group’s flag. Mr Karim and Mr Khan were not among them.

The so-called Islamic State announced its presence in Bangladesh late last year and analysts believe they are recruiting from pre-existing extremist groups who have been carrying out machete attacks since 2013.

But Bangladeshi authorities have persistently denied Isis has a presence in the country, sparking warnings from counter-terror monitors including the Site Intelligence Group, which urged the government to “face the truth.”

Mr Karim lived, studied and worked in the UK for nearly 20 years before returning to his country of birth to teach.

He became a professor in the business faculty of Dhaka’s North South University, where one of the attackers was his student, in 2008 but has since left to run his father’s engineering business.

Amnesty International is among the human rights organisations raising concern over the men’s continued detention.

“While it is a positive step that Hasnat Karim and Tahmid Khan have been produced in court and formally arrested, the Bangladeshi authorities must now ensure that their rights in detention are being met, including access to a lawyer of their choosing, their families and any medical attention they may require,” a spokesperson said.

“We call on the Bangladeshi authorities to charge them promptly with a recognisable crime, in line with international law and standards, or else release them.

“There must be justice for the victims of the horrific attack in Dhaka, but Bangladesh must ensure that human rights are now not sacrificed in the name of national security.”

A Home Office report on prison conditions in Bangladesh said they were “so poor as to amount to inhuman or degrading treatment” and that cases of torture had been recently reported.

A spokesperson for the Foreign and Commonwealth Office told The Independent: “We continue to press the Bangladeshi authorities for consular access in this case. We have repeatedly raised this case for access at a senior level and will continue to do so. We have also been in close contact with the family since we were first made aware of the arrest.”

Bangladesh does not recognise dual nationality and so does not abide by regulations ensuring access for UK diplomats in cases involving British-Bangladeshis.