Fakhrul says HC verdict upholding imprisonment of BNP leaders Tuku, Aman influenced

BNP Secretary General Mirza Fakhrul Islam Alamgir expressed his strong condemnation over the High Court order that upheld the sentences of BNP leader Iqbal Hasan Mahmud Tuku and Aman Ullah Aman in separate cases filed by the Anti-Corruption Commission (ACC) in 2007.

"I believe the verdict was influenced," said Fakhrul while speaking to reporters after paying tributes at the mausoleum of former president Ziaur Rahman on the occasion of his 42nd death anniversary.

The cases filed against Tuku and Aman accused them of amassing wealth beyond their known sources of income, resulting in Tuku being sentenced to nine years of imprisonment and Aman to 13 years.

Saying Bangladesh was moving towards one-party rule, with the voting rights of the people being snatched away, BNP Secretary General Mirza Fakhrul once again reiterated that the next election will be held under a caretaker government.

"We demand the resignation of the government, dissolution of the parliament and an election under a neutral government. We will not budge from this position for a moment."

Fakhrul said the government had kept BNP chairperson Khaleda Zia under house arrest, while her son Tarique Rahman was living in exile.

"Attempts are being made to suppress 35 lakh people by harassing them with false cases. This time, the martyrdom anniversary of this leader will give us a new motivation. We have taken a new vow to restore the lost democracy. BNP has taken an oath to establish a democratic state," he said.

In addition to the BNP secretary general, standing committee members of the party – Khandkar Mosharraf Hossain, Nazrul Islam Khan, Ameer Khusru Mahmud Chowdhury, Vice Chairman Barrister Shahjahan Umar Bir Uttam, Professor AZM Zahid Hossain, Advisor to Chairperson Aman Ullah Aman, Abdus Salam, Joint Secretary General Fazlul Haque Milan, Organising Secretary Shama Obaid, among others, also paid their tributes.