4,000 Bangladesh activists charged in crackdown

Thousands of party activists in Bangladesh have been hit with 'fake' charges of violence in a widespread crackdown by authorities, the opposition said on Monday as an international rights group expressed concerns. Opponents of Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina -- whose government faces a general election next year and is accused of rights abuses -- have held protests across the country in recent months over power cuts and demanding a poll under a neutral caretaker government. Some of the demonstrations have been marred by violence. Sairul Kabir Khan, a spokesman for the opposition Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP), said that since August 22, police had charged at least 4,081 named party supporters and leaders in what he called trumped-up or "fake" cases over the violence. -- AFP