Verdict to deepen political crisis: Fakhrul

mirza fakhrul islam alamgir.File Photo
mirza fakhrul islam alamgir.File Photo

The Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP) on Thursday announced 2-day nationwide demonstration programmes for Friday and Saturday, protesting at Khaleda conviction.

BNP chairperson and former prime minister Khaleda Zia landed in jail on Thursday after a special judge court sentenced her to five-year imprisonment in a graft case.

Rejecting the court verdict, the BNP secretary general, Mirza Fakhrul Islam Alamgir, announced the programmes at a press conference at the party’s Naya Paltan headquarters after the verdict.

“BNP chairperson has instructed us not to announce any whimsical and violent programmes. She has instructed us to register the protests in a completely peaceful manner,” said Fakhrul.

He went on to say, “We’re rejecting the verdict with deep distaste. They [AL] have awarded her [Khaleda] the sentence only in a bid to harass her politically, to keep her away from the next general elections, and to implement their blueprint to establish one-party rule in the country.”

Fakhrul said, “This verdict will deepen the country’s existing political crisis and will erase people’s trust in the judiciary.

He said the government used the state machinery to create a reign of terror across the country centring on the verdict, arresting over 3,500 its leaders and activists. 

The BNP leader alleged that the ruling Awami League “terrorists” also launched attacks on Khaleda’s motorcade on her way to the court.