A court in Dhaka has sentenced BNP acting chairman Tarique Rahman to 9 years in jail and his wife Zubaida Rahman to 3 years in jail in a graft case filed over amassing wealth beyond their known sources of income.
Dhaka metropolitan senior special judge Md Asaduzzaman delivered the verdict on Wednesday.
Public prosecutor Mosharrof Hossain Kajol who represent the plaintiff, Anti-Corruption Commission, in the court, confirmed the news to Prothom Alo.
Tarique Rahman and Zubaida Rahman faced charges under the sections 26(2) and 27(1) of the Anti-Corruption Commission Act 2004. If an offence is found to be true under sections 26(2), the convict will face maximum 3 years of imprisonment while an offence is probed to be true under sections 27(1), the convict will face maximum 10 years of imprisonment.
On 27 July, the court closed the arguments for the ACC and fixed 2 August to deliver the verdict.
On 24 July, the investigating officer of the case and former ACC deputy director Toufiqul Islam gave statements in the court. Forty two out of 56 witnesses gave deposition in the court and the ACC said no more witnesses would be produced in this case.
On 13 April, the court framed charges against Tarique Rahman and Zubaida Rahman in the case.
Allegations were brought against Tarique Rahman for accumulating wealth of about Tk 27.45 million beyond the known sources of income and Zubaida Rahman for assistance in presenting baseless records and statements to prove that Tarique Rahman earned Tk 3.5 million from from the legal sources.
A group of pro-BNP lawyers were seen demonstrating on the court premises after the court session began.
According to lawyers and sources in court, the ACC filed a case against Tarique Rahman, Zubaida Rahman and her mother Syeda Iqbal Mand Banu on 26 September 2007 in the capital's Kafrul police station on charges of concealing wealth information and amassing of wealth beyond known sources of income. A charge sheet was filed against the three in court the following year.
Tarique Rahman, who was sentenced to prison for the grenade attack on the Awami League rally on 21 August and the corruption case, has been staying with his family in the UK for more than a decade.
The government has said at various times that initiatives are being taken to bring him back to the country.
BNP leaders alleged that Tarique Rahman is being implicated in a 'false' case to keep him away from politics.