The Anti-Terrorism Act, 2009 () is an Act passed by the

Jatiya Sangsad The Jatiya Sangsad (), often simply referred to as Sangsad and also known as is the unicameral Legislature, legislative body of Bangladesh. The current parliament of Bangladesh contains 350 seats, including 50 seats reserved exclusively for w ...

in 2009 to grant the

Government of Bangladesh The government of the People's Republic of Bangladesh () is the central government of Bangladesh. The government was constituted by the Constitution of Bangladesh comprising the executive (the president, prime minister and cabinet), the ...

additional powers to prevent and combat terrorism in

Bangladesh Bangladesh, officially the People's Republic of Bangladesh, is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by population, eighth-most populous country in the world and among the List of countries and dependencies by ...

. The Act was passed by the

Awami League The Awami League, officially known as Bangladesh Awami League, is a major List of political parties in Bangladesh, political party in Bangladesh. The oldest existing political party in the country, the party played the leading role in achievin ...

-led Grand Alliance led by

Prime Minister A prime minister or chief of cabinet is the head of the cabinet and the leader of the ministers in the executive branch of government, often in a parliamentary or semi-presidential system. A prime minister is not the head of state, but r ...

Sheikh Hasina Sheikh Hasina (''née'' Wazed; born 28 September 1947) is a Bangladeshi politician who served as the tenth prime minister of Bangladesh from June 1996 to July 2001 and again from January 2009 to August 2024. Premiership of Sheikh Hasina, Her ...

following their victory in the 2008 general election. The statute has contributed to Bangladesh being ranked most successful in combatting terrorism in

South Asia South Asia is the southern Subregion#Asia, subregion of Asia that is defined in both geographical and Ethnicity, ethnic-Culture, cultural terms. South Asia, with a population of 2.04 billion, contains a quarter (25%) of the world's populatio ...

by the

Global Terrorism Index The Global Terrorism Index (GTI) is a report published annually by the Institute for Economics and Peace (IEP), and was developed by IT entrepreneur and IEP's founder Steve Killelea. The index provides a comprehensive summary of the key global ...

History

The Law was formulated by the Grand Alliance government led by

Bangladesh Awami League The Awami League, officially known as Bangladesh Awami League, is a major List of political parties in Bangladesh, political party in Bangladesh. The oldest existing political party in the country, the party played the leading role in achievin ...

in 2009. The law was given retrospective effect from 11 June 2008. The law was designed to target terrorists and financial institutions used by them. The law introduced a stipulation that the

Bangladesh Police The Bangladesh Police () is the national law enforcement agency of Bangladesh, operating under the Ministry of Home Affairs (Bangladesh), Ministry of Home Affairs. It plays a crucial role in maintaining peace, and enforcement of law and order with ...

must conclude an active terrorist investigation within 60 days. The law was subsequently amended in 2012 and 2013. In 2012, it was amended to allow for

capital punishment Capital punishment, also known as the death penalty and formerly called judicial homicide, is the state-sanctioned killing of a person as punishment for actual or supposed misconduct. The sentence (law), sentence ordering that an offender b ...

for certain offences under the Act. In 2013, it was amended to make admissible the use of online communications such as

social media Social media are interactive technologies that facilitate the Content creation, creation, information exchange, sharing and news aggregator, aggregation of Content (media), content (such as ideas, interests, and other forms of expression) amongs ...

as evidence in court.

Criticism

Human rights group,

Odhikar Odhikar () is a Bangladesh-based human rights organization, that was founded in October 1994. It is a member of the International Federation for Human Rights (FIDH). It has been publishing an annual activity report since 2003. Odhikar's work has ...

, has called for the law to be repealed describing the act as a total for repression on those opposed to the government. Cases under this act need government approval for trials to begin, which are sometimes delayed, thus effectively placing the cases in legal limbo.

References

{{reflist Law of Bangladesh 2009 in Bangladesh Counterterrorism in Bangladesh Terrorism in Bangladesh Terrorism laws 2009 in Bangladeshi law Anti-Terrorism Acts Acts of the Jatiya Sangsad