German envoy disowns BNP statement quoting him

German Ambassador to Bangladesh Achim Troester on Wednesday alleged he was misquoted by BNP on Bangladesh’s rights situation in a media briefing after he met recently with the party’s secretary general Fakhrul Islam Alamgir.

"I was a bit unhappy about this (misquotes),” he said in a routine interaction with Diplomatic Correspondents Association of Bangladesh (DCAB), which is dubbed as DCAB Talk, at the National Press Club here.

Troester said he read in newspapers and that BNP said “I had uttered concern about the human rights situation and democracy in the country (Bangladesh), this is not true", reports BSS.

The envoy’s comments came in response to a question nearly a month after his courtesy call on with the BNP leaders on March 17, as he visibly interacted with newsmen for the first time since that event.

After the meeting at the BNP Chairperson's Office in Gulshan, BNP's Standing Committee Member Amir Khasru Mahmud briefed reporters when he said the German ambassador expressed concern about the human rights and democracy in Bangladesh.

"I am directly speaking to you. You can quote me. But why I should be quoted by third party," he posed a question.

Troester termed his meeting with BNP leaders as just a courtesy call-on when, the envoy said, he wanted to know why BNP did not participate in the last general election.

He said Berlin does not want any violence in participatory polls as democracy and human rights are the key to his Germany’s foreign policy. "Germany is favour of peaceful elections and that every political player takes part in it but refrains from any violence," Troester said.

DCAB organised its flagship event when its president Rezaul Karim Lotus and general secretary AKM Moinuddin also spoke.