Verdict against Khaleda being amended: BNP

   The party to hold rally in Dhaka on Feb 22

    Staff Correspondent

Bangladesh Nationalist Party on Friday alleged that verdict sentencing the party chairperson, Khaleda Zia, for five years in jail was being amended, which was causing the delay in providing the defence lawyers the certified copy of the judgment.

The party announced that it would hold a rally either at Suhrawardy Udyan or Nayapaltan in Dhaka on February 22, demanding release of Khaleda.

 

BNP senior joint secretary general Ruhul Kabir Rizvi at a news briefing at the party central office said they submitted application to the authorities concerned for permission to hold the rally.

He said eminent lawyers, constitution experts and intellectuals were surprised at not providing the certified copy eight days after delivering the verdict on February 8. He said that although there was a provision in rules to provide the certified copy within five days of delivering verdict, it was not being followed.

It proved the government’s aggressive interference in judiciary, Rizvi claimed.

 The certified copy is not being given due to the government’s restriction, he said adding that it proved that prime minister Sheikh Hasina and her special envoy Jatiya Party chairman HM Ershad masterminded Khaleda’s conviction.

Definitely the verdict is being ‘amended’, he said adding that certainly the verdict was being amended as per instruction of Awami League.

A special judge’s court set up at Bakshibazar Alia Madrasa ground sentenced Khaleda to five years’ jail while her elder son, now BNP acting chairman, Tarique Rahman and four others to 10 years’ jail in Zia Orphanage Trust corruption case.

Courtesy: New Age Feb 17