Bangladesh’s chief justice resigns under pressure as Yunus-led interim government starts working

DHAKA, Bangladesh (AP) — Bangladesh’s Chief Justice Obaidul Hassan resigned Saturday following new protests by a group of students and other demonstrators, as the country’s interim government led by Nobel laureate Muhammad Yunus started functioning days after a mass uprising forced Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina to resign and flee to India.

Asif Nazrul, law, justice and parliamentary affairs adviser to the interim government, said in a video message posted on Facebook that his office received the resignation letter and they would forward it to the country’s figurehead President Mohammed Shahabuddin for further procedures.

Five other top judges in the Supreme Court also resigned later on Saturday, in an attempt by the new government to reorganize the judiciary.

Tensions gripped Saturday morning after the chief justice called for a meeting of the judges of the country’s High Court and the Supreme Court to discuss the working of the judiciary under the new government. The protesters thronged the court premises and demanded that the chief justice and other judges of the top court step down.

A key student leader Asif Mahmud — who was appointed as an adviser at the Ministry of Youth and Sports — urged his supporters to gather at the court premises to press for their unconditional resignations, in a Facebook post in the morning.

The students say the judiciary should perform without any influence from politicians and other authorities.

“We all believe that these justices have not only favored the previous government, but we also believe they have been in the pockets of that party. So, we don’t want any corrupt justices in the judiciary,” said Tahsim Uzzaman, a 26-year-old student of governance and English literature, adding that