A Dhaka court on Wednesday sentenced the exiled acting chairman of the main opposition Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP) and his wife to jail in a dictated case.
The sentences come amid large BNP protest rallies, calling for Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina to step down and for the next election, due in January, to be held under a neutral caretaker government.
Tarique Rahman and his wife Dr Zubaida Rahman were sentenced to jail for nine years and three years respectively on charges of amassing illegal wealth and hiding information of the wealth.
Judge Md Asaduzzaman pronounced the judgement in a packed courtroom amid tight security in and around the court premises.
The court also fined Tarique Tk 3 crore and Zubaida Tk 35 lakh.
During the verdict, huge number of public prosecutors of different courts and pro-Awami League lawyers occupied all seats in the courtroom while pro-BNP lawyers alleged that they could not to enter there.
Pro-BNP lawyers staged demonstrations on the court premises since morning denouncing the trial.Before the pronouncement of the verdict, a scuffle took place between the pro-BNP and pro-AL lawyers in front of the Dhaka metropolitan sessions judge court building at about 3:45 pm.
After the verdict, BNP law affairs secretary Kayser Kamal told reporters that the verdict was delivered against Tarique and his wife on political reasons.
He said that the couple was sentenced ‘in accordance with government blueprint.’
The BNP in a press conference said that the ‘government-prescribed’ verdict was made aiming at keeping the couple out of the national election.
BNP leaders and activists staged demonstrations and brought out processions at places, including in front of the party Naya Paltan central office protesting the verdict.
Hasina, who has maintained tight control since coming to power in 2009, has been accused of authoritarianism, human rights violations, cracking down on free speech and suppressing dissent while jailing her critics.
The United States and international rights groups said they were concerned about reports of intimidation and political violence during protests in Bangladesh over the weekend against Hasina.
