DHAKA // An engineer detained for nearly a month after surviving a deadly siege at a Dhaka cafe has been denied access to legal representation, according to his lawyer.
Police seized Hasnat Karim for questioning after the July 1 attack on the western-style cafe by militants that left 20 hostages and two police officers dead.
Relatives said Mr Karim, who holds dual Bangladesh and British nationality, was used as a human shield by the extremists during the attack after going to the cafe with his wife to celebrate his daughter’s birthday.
His British lawyer Rodney Dixon, said the 47-year-old was being held at a secret location in Bangladesh and was being interrogated without a lawyer present.
“He cannot be kept incommunicado in detention. He must have access to his lawyers while he is being questioned,” Mr Dixon said on Wednesday.
“They should release him immediately since there is no evidence of his involvement in any crime. There is absolutely no evidence that he was the ring leader or involved in any way in the attack,” he said.
Bangladesh home minister Asaduzzaman Khan confirmed this week that Mr Karim was still being held. He did not say whether he would face charges or when he would be released.
Investigators detained Mr Karim after video footage showed him walking with the attackers on the cafe’s roof during the siege.
A British High Commission official said that they have so far been denied access to Mr Karim despite ongoing requests.
Another survivor of the attack, Tahmid Khan, 22, a student at the University of Toronto, was also still being interrogated, as police try to piece together what happened during the siege.
Militants killed 22 people, mostly foreigners, when they raided the upscale Holey Artisan restaurant on the night of July 1.
Army commandoes stormed the cafe the next morning, killing all five attackers and rescuing 13 people, including Karim, his wife and their two children, as well as Khan.
ISIL claimed responsibility for the attack, but police blame homegrown extremist group Jamayetul Mujahideen Bangladesh (JMB).
* Agence France-Presse
