BNP-Jamaat men face trial before elections

Logo of BNP
Logo of BNP

Leaders of Bangladesh Nationalist Party expressed apprehensions that the government would try to corner the major political opposition by taking 453 of their leaders in Chattogram to trail by the end of October, before the parliamentary election schedule is declared.

A number of cases filed with Chattogram Kotwali police station are to be transferred from metropolitan magistrate court to the judicial court.

Chattogram police have submitted a charge sheet on 4 July against 453 accused including 302 who were accused under the anti-terrorism and anti-explosives acts and for attacking police in 2015.

The accused leaders and activists include several who are aspiring to compete in the national polls, according to the BNP leaders.

BNP’s standing committee member Amir Khasru Mahmud Chowdhury, Chattogram south district BNP president Zafrul Islam Chowdhury, Chattogram City BNP president Shahadat Hossain and general secretary Abul Hashem, joint secretary general Aslam Chowdhury, vice president of Chattogram south district Enamul Haque, Shamsul Alam and Jamaat’s former MP Shahjahan Chowdhury have been accused in the cases. They are potential candidates for BNP, Jamaat and allies in different constituencies of Chattogram in the parliamentary elections.

BNP and its 20-party allies had called for a rally in Kazir Deuri area of Chattogram city in 2015 on the anniversary of one-sided election of 5 January in 2014. The leaders and activists had clashed with the police during the rally.

Police arrested 302 activists including BNP’s joint general secretary Aslam Chowdhury during and after the rally.

Aslam Chowdhury is still in jail. He was accused of ‘conspiring with Israeli intelligence agency Mossad to overthrow Bangladesh government’. Aslam was arrested from Khilkhet of Dhaka on 15 May

A large number of  cases were filed with Chattogram Kotwali police station in 2015. The police filed charge sheets of 453 accused on 4 July this year.

Chattogram metropolitan magistrate Mehnaz Rahman drew up three separate files on the case and the trials were to be held separately in three different courts for anti-explosives charges, anti-terrorism charges and attacks on police.

Mehnaz Rahman ordered to send the files to the court on 9 September.

Chattogram City BNP president Shahadat Hossain told Prothom Alo, “Almost all likely candidates of Chattogram have been included on the charge sheet. They are targetting all top and active BNP leaders so that Awami League can have another voterless election."

According to court officials, 355 accused BNP and Jamaat leaders have been appearing in court regularly while some of the remaining 198 accused have even passed away.

Chattogram City BNP vice president and Metropolitan Sessions Judge Court’s former public prosecutor (PP) Abdus Sattar said,"The section under which the police has filed the cases is not in keeping with the charges."

The court and the prosecution will check whether the charges had been made correctly, said officer-in-charge of Chattogram’s Kotwali police station Mohammed Mohsin.

“There is no scope to say whether there are errors in the charge sheet,” he added.