Opposition BNP on Sunday said the verdict in the money-laundering
case acquitting its senior vice-chairman Tarique Rahman has proved
that all the allegations against him were baseless and politically
motivated. “We express gratitude to the almighty Allah for the
verdict. This judgment has proved that all the allegations brought by
a quarter against Tarique Rahman were false, fabricated and
politically motivated,” said BNP acting secretary general Mirza
Fakhrul Islam Alamgir. Talking to reporters at BNP Chairperson’s
Gulshan office, the BNP spokesman came up with his party’s instant
reaction to a Dhaka court’s verdict in the money-laundering case
against Tarique Rahman and his business partner Giasuddin Al Mamun.
Earlier in the day, judge of the Special Judge Court-3 Mohammad
Motahar Hossain acquitted the BNP senior vice-chairman and sentenced
Mamun to seven years’ imprisonment in the case. The court also fined
Mamun Tk 40 crore. Asked whether this verdict will play any positive
role in resolving the ongoing political crisis, Fakhrul said the
verdict has no link with the current crisis as the case was filed only
to malign Tarique and Zia family. “Our ongoing movement is for
ensuring people’s voting rights and it’ll continue until the non-party
caretaker government system is restored in the constitution,” he
added. The BNP acting secretary general alleged that a quarter in a
planned way brought various allegations of corruption against Tarique
to defame him. “This government also raised the same allegations
against the BNP senior vice chairman and Zia family. This verdict
proved that all the allegations are totally baseless and all the cases
false.” Asked when the BNP senior vice chairman may return home,
Fakhrul said Tarique is still under treatment in London and he will
come back home as per his physicians’ advice. Earlier in an instant
reaction, BNP joint secretary general Ruhul Kabir Rizvi claimed the
verdict in the much-talked-about money-laundering case has unveiled
that Tarique had no link with graft. “I’m on behalf of the party
acting secretary general saying that all the cases filed against
Tarique Rahman on corruption charges are false and politically
motivated,” he told reporters at the BNP’s Nayapaltan central office.
Meanwhile, Masud Ahmed Talukder, a defence counsel, described the
verdict as brave one. “A brave verdict in a subservient judicial
system has exposed that Tarique Rahman is innocent.” He said the BNP
senior vice chairman got justice in a false case. As the news of
Tarique’s acquittal reached the BNP office, the officials and a few
BNP leaders present there burst into joy. Meanwhile, pro-BNP lawyers
brought out a jubilant procession on the court premises and
distributed sweetmeats after the verdict was delivered. During the
past military-backed caretaker government, the Anti Corruption
Commission (ACC) filed the case on October 26, 2009 with Cantonment
Police Station against Tarique and Mamun on charge of siphoning off Tk
20.41 crore to Singapore between 2003 and 2007. Staying in London
since September 2008 for treatment after securing bail in over a dozen
of criminal cases, including extortion, Tarique, also son of BNP
chairperson Khaleda Zia, was tried in absentia in the money-laundering
case as he remained absconding during the whole trial proceedings.
After getting the court clearance, the ACC had also sought Interpol’s
help to arrest Tarique Rahman, but failed. Earlier on June 23,
Arafat Rahman Koko, younger son of Khaleda Zia, was sentenced to six
years’ rigorous imprisonment for laundering over Tk 20 crore to
Singapore. – UNB
