Dhaka, Feb 9 – BNP Secretary General Mirza Fakhrul Islam Alamgir on Friday said their party will do a peaceful and non-violent movement demanding the release of their chairperson Khaleda Zia alongside a legal battle at the High Court (HC).Talking to reporters at BNP Chairperson’s Gulshan office, he also said they are expecting to start the legal processes at the High Court by Sunday challenging the lower court verdict that jailed Khaleda for five years in the graft case.
Before going to jail, the BNP leader said their chairperson directed them to carry out a non-violent and peaceful movement in democratic manners for her release from jail, restoration of the democracy and force government for holding a credible election.
Replying to a question Fakhrul said they still did not get the certified copy of the verdict.
He said their lawyers have taken all necessary preparations to file an appeal with the High Court on Sunday against the lower court verdict.
On Thursday, a special court here convicted Khaleda and sentenced her to five years’ imprisonment in the Zia Orphanage Trust graft case.
Five other accused in the case, including her son and BNP senior vice-chairman Tarique Rahman, were sentenced to 10 years’ imprisonment each. The court also fined the five accused Tk 2.10 crore each.
Fakhrul alleged that the government has started a negative campaign against Khaleda after convicting her in a ‘false’ case. “We condemn it.”
Fakhrul said their party never thought an old political party like Awami League would resort to such a heinous way to belittle another top politician.
Earlier in the evening, Fakhrul briefed the representatives of different foreign media outlets working here about the country’s overall situation and BNP’s observation about the court verdict.
The representatives of the international media, including BBC, Voice of America, Al Jazeera, Guardian, AP, AFP, Xinhua and Zee News, were present at the briefing. – UNB
