The main opposition Bangladesh Nationalist Party secretary general Mirza Fakhrul Islam Alamgir said on Tuesday that prime minister Sheikh Hasina’s son Sajeeb Wazed Joy had spent $9 million on lobbying against the party in three years from 2005 to 2007.
Speaking at a press conference at the BNP chairperson’s office in Gulshan, Fakhrul said that evidence in this regard was made available on the official websites of the United States.
He said that BNP demands Sajeeb to reveal the source of money he spent on lobbying against BNP.
‘How did that money go from Bangladesh to America?’ Fakhrul questioned.
Complaining that the blame of lobbyist hiring by an expatriate is being placed on BNP, he said that if any expatriate took any action against the violation of democracy and human rights, if he did anything out of his love for the country, he would be responsible for his action, not BNP.
‘BNP appreciates such patriotic steps taken by expatriates in the countries around the world for the protection of democracy and human rights and expresses solidarity with them,’ Fakhrul added.
He said that the letter that BNP sent abroad was not for the appointment of any lobbyists but a call to international development partners to protect human rights in Bangladesh.
He said that some ministers were raising false allegations against BNP.
He suggested the ministers look at themselves.
He said that BNP wants to stop all human rights violations and inform all domestic and foreign partners about the misdeeds of this government.
About the recently passed law on Election Commission formation, Fakhrul said that the government was trying to cling to power forming an Election Commission by their own people.
He also criticised the government move to appoint lobbyists in the USA following country’s sanctions on Rapid Action Battalion and its seven current and former officials.
