Rangamati Correspondent, CHT News
Friday, October 10, 2025
The United People's Democratic Front (UPDF) has stated
that the sentencing of Michael Chakma in a mock trial during the tenure of the
interim government is a cruel irony and unacceptable.
In a statement to the media on Friday (October 10,
2025), UPDF spokesperson Angya Marma expressed deep shock and outrage over the
incident in which Michael Chakma — a UPDF leader who was "abducted and
detained for over five years in the notorious Ayna Ghar and released after the
fall of the Hasina regime" — was sentenced to eight years of rigorous
imprisonment by the Additional Sessions Judge of Rangamati last Wednesday.
He further stated in the release, “Passing a verdict
against the accused without giving him the opportunity to defend himself and
without any evidence is unprecedented in the world — this so-called trial under
the interim government is nothing but a mockery of justice. It cannot be
accepted.”
Highlighting that in the Chittagong Hill Tracts, all
government institutions including the courts operate under the absolute control
of the military, Angya Marma said, “It is possible that the court was pressured
by a powerful force to quickly ‘conduct’ a trial and deliver a verdict against
Michael Chakma.”
He added, “Secondly, all the cases filed against
Michael Chakma, including extortion charges, are conspiratorial and politically
motivated. Therefore, the verdict given against him is also politically driven
and was forcibly extracted from the court to silence his voice of dissent.”
“UPDF does not accept this mock verdict,” declared
Angya Marma.
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