Won’t silence my voice and conscience, ZI Panna says after securing HC bail

The High Court today granted anticipatory bail to eminent Supreme Court lawyer and human rights activist ZI Khan Panna till submission of the probe report by police over an attempted murder case.
One Mohammad Baker, who sells vegetables on a rickshaw van at Banasree area in Dhaka, filed the case on October 17 with Khilgaon Police Station over the shooting of his son Ahadul Islam, 25, on July 19.
The HC bench of Justice AKM Asaduzzaman and Justice Syed Enayet Hossain passed the order following a petition filed by ZI Khan Panna seeking bail in the case.
Earlier in the day, Panna appeared before the HC bench for bail in the case.
After securing bail, ZI Khan Panna told The Daily Star that he is not afraid of being sued in such a case.
“The case has been filed against me either to save the real culprits or to humiliate me. I have died in 1971. I am now leading an extended life. I will not silence my voice and conscience,” he said.
ZI Khan Panna was among the Supreme Court lawyers who stood for a writ petitioner at the High Court on July 29, seeking orders to stop the use of bullets on the protesters.
He was also a member of a citizen’s commission formed to investigate human rights violations and loss of lives during the protests.
Yet, the rights activist now finds himself among the 180 accused in the case filed with Khilgaon Police Station over the shooting of a protester.