Govt will fall if Khaleda is arrested, BNP threatens

The BNP has warned that the government will be brought down immediately if its chief Khaleda Zia is arrested.

Senior Correspondentbdnews24.com
Published : 25 Feb 2015, 06:49 PM
Updated : 25 Feb 2015, 07:06 PM

The warning came in a statement issued purportedly by the party from an undisclosed location, on Wednesday night and signed by its Joint Secretary General Salahuddin Ahmed.

“Any move to arrest Khaleda Zia will only expedite the government’s fall,” the statement read.

A Dhaka court earlier in the day had issued the arrest warrants for the BNP chief and two others in Zia Orphanage Trust and Zia Charitable Trust corruption cases.

Khaleda, who has been staying at her office at Gulshan for nearly two months, was informed about the warrants, her Press Secretary Maruf Kamal Khan told bdnews24.com.

The statement said, “The government has turned the judiciary into a weapon to repress the opposition. Issuing the arrest warrants in false cases is only a part of that process.”

The ‘illegal dictator’ had completed all preparation to arrest Khaleda Zia in the false cases, it added.

It also said that such false cases, attacks and arrests would not be able to stop their ongoing agitations.

The statement claimed, “The arrest warrant was issued under government pressure even though (Khaleda) informed the court about her inability to appear before it due to lack of security.”

It claimed Khaleda was ‘under unofficial house arrest’ at her Gulshan office.