At least five protesters arrested in anti-government demo in Bangladesh

Police in the Bangladeshi capital Dhaka have arrested at least five people after an anti-government protest turned violent, local media say.

Police forces also fired tear gas and rubber bullets to disperse the stone-throwing demonstrators.

Hundreds of activists from the country’s opposition party, Jamaat-e-Islami, participated in the protest rally, which was held in the Rampura area of the capital on Wednesday.

The protesters called on the government to release top opposition leaders who are currently on trial for allegedly collaborating with the Pakistani Army.

The Bangladeshi government says they committed crimes against humanity during the 1971 independence war with Pakistan.

The party denies the charges, calling them politically motivated.

Opponents accuse the ruling Awami League government of using the country’s International Crimes Tribunal, which was created in 2010 to try war crimes suspects, as a political tool to target the opposition.