Dhaka, Feb. 26 -- The Barishal Bar Association has launched a total boycott of all local courts to press home three demands, including the release of its arrested president.

The protest, which began on Thursday morning, has brought legal proceedings to a standstill and left litigants in distress.

Nazimuddin Ahmed Panna, convenor of the Nationalist Lawyers' Forum and public prosecutor at the Metropolitan Sessions Judges' Court, confirmed that the action follows the arrest of the association's President Sadiqur Rahman Lincoln on Wednesday.

He alleged that an additional chief metropolitan magistrate used a staff member to file a false case against senior lawyers, sparking the current strike.

"The protest began in two courts [on Wednesday...