200 pro-Awami League lawyers barred from Bangladesh bar elections
At least 200 lawyers in Bangladesh affiliated with the Awami League have been barred from contesting in at least 13 bar association elections since January 2025, according to local media reports citing members of lawyers' associations across the country. The exclusions — spanning nomination rejections, alleged physical obstruction, and outright bans — have drawn sharp criticism from legal experts and rights activists who say the pattern undermines democratic norms.
Scale of the Exclusions
Although many of the affected lawyers attempted to participate as independent candidates, they were reportedly prevented from collecting or submitting nomination papers, with several nominations cancelled by bar associations on grounds of alleged links to the Awami League. The restrictions have been recorded across at least 13 districts since the start of the year, making it one of the broadest political exclusions seen in Bangladesh's legal fraternity in recent memory.
Most recently, the Supreme Court Bar Association (SCBA) rejected the nomination papers of 42 lawyers out of 90 candidates for its May 13–14 elections, citing alleged ties to the Awami League. The SCBA's two-day election is set to proceed from Wednesday, according to The Daily Star, Bangladesh's leading English-language newspaper.
What Legal Experts Are Saying
Manzill Murshid, a lawyer at the Bangladesh Supreme Court, noted that the exclusions extended beyond Awami League members to include lawyers linked to the 14-party alliance and some independent candidates.
