The leading opposition BNP on Wednesday turned down the lower court’s verdict against its acting chairman Tarique Rahman and his wife Zubaida Rahman, saying it was given at the behest of Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina to thwart the ongoing one-point movement.
“The country’s people have turned down this dictated verdict and a farce in the name of trial with hatred. This verdict has exposed the vengeance of the head of the government (towards Tarique),” said party Secretary General Mirza Fakhrul Islam Alamgir.
Speaking at a press conference at the BNP Chairperson’s Gulshan office, he also said when their current movement spread across the country like wildfire, the verdict was handed down as a trick of the government to confuse people.
“Revenge has been met by putting a gun on the neck of the court to make the ongoing movement leaderless. The ongoing movement of the BNP can’t be suppressed with such acts. We strongly condemn and protest this verdict,” the BNP leader said.
He urged the government to withdraw the sentence against them in ‘false’ cases.
“Although there are about 49 lakh cases pending with the court, the proceedings of this case completed at lightning speed, manifesting that this verdict has been given as per Sheikh Hasina's instructions,” Fakhrul alleged.
He said the verdict again is another example of the politicisation of the Judiciary. “This dictated judgment is part of a continuous conspiracy to abolish the country's democracy.”
BNP standing committee members Mirza Abbas, Gayeshwar Chandra Roy, Abdul Moyeen Khan, Nazrul Islam Khan and Amir Khosru Mahmud Chowdhury were present at the press conference.
Earlier in the day, a Dhaka court sentenced BNP’s acting chairman Tarique Rahman to nine years imprisonment and his wife Dr Zubaida Rahman to three years in a graft case filed by the Anti-Corruption Commission (ACC) in 2007.
Judge Md Asaduzzaman of Dhaka Metropolitan Senior Special Judge's Court handed down the verdict against Tarique and Zubaida who have long been staying in London.
The court also fined Tarique Tk 3 crore and Zubaida Tk 45 lakh.
