BNP will hold rallies across the country, including in the capital, on Friday protesting what the party said a dictated verdict of the lower court against its acting chairman Tarique Rahman and his wife Zubaida Rahman in a graft case.
Mirza Fakhrul Islam Alamgir, BNP secretary general, announced the programme at a press conference at the party’s Naya Paltan central office on Thursday.
In Dhaka, he said, the rally will start at 2pm in front of Naya Paltan central office to be arranged by the party’s Dhaka south, north city and Dhaka district units.
“Tarique Rahman and his wife Zubaida Rahman have been sentenced illegally and unfairly due to political vendetta….Thousands of people took to the streets soon after the announcement of the verdict and registered their protest against it,” Fakhrul said.
He said their party’s all metropolitan city and district units will hold rallies to formally protest against the court verdict.
Regarding the metropolitan cities, he said the district units of the party will jointly arrange the rallies with the city units.
On Wednesday, a Dhaka court sentenced Tarique to nine years imprisonment and his wife Zubaida 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 them who have long been staying in London.
The court also fined Tarique Tk 3 crore and Zubaida Tk 45 lakh.
Minutes after the verdict was delivered, the BNP followers along with party senior leaders, including its Vice-Chairman Barkatullah Bulu, chairperson’s advisers Amanullah Aman, Abdus Salam, and Senior Joint Secretary General Ruhul Kabir Rizvi, staged demonstrations in the Naya Paltan area.
BNP’s different city and district units also staged a similar demonstration denouncing the verdict.
From the demonstration at Naya Paltan, BNP’s Dhaka south city unit Convener Abdus Salam announced that they will hold a rally at Naya Paltan on Friday.
Besides, BNP’s three associate bodies – Jatiyatabadi Swechchhasebak Dal, Jubo Dal and Chhatra Dal – also announced to hold protest rallies across the country on Thursday.
