Tarique will return in time and appeal against jail sentence for laundering money: BNP

Tarique Rahman will appeal against his seven-year sentence for money laundering when he returns to Bangladesh, the BNP has said.

The High Court verdict that overturned his acquittal from the case was ‘devoid of justice,’ Khandaker Mahbub Hossain, adviser to BNP chief Khaleda Zia, told a press conference on Friday. 

“This is against any form of justice. The High Court’s verdict is biased. Tarique Rahman’s lawyers were not allowed to be heard,” said the former president of Supreme Court Bar Association.   

“If Allah wills, there will come a time when Tarique Rahman will return to this land. We will appeal against this and prove how the case was lodged without any legal basis.”  

Tarique is the elder son of former prime minister Khaleda and is her party’s senior vice-chairman. He has been living in the UK since 2008. 

In 2013, he was acquitted of charges of siphoning off Tk 200 million he had received as bribe. 

The court, however, found his close business associate Giasuddin-Al-Mamun guilty and sentenced him to seven years in prison.  

On Thursday, the High Court in its verdict on an appeal convicted Tarique and upheld Giasuddin’s sentence. 

Tarique Rahman

Tarique was sentenced to seven years in prison and handed a fine of Tk 200 million.

Khaleda, after the verdict, called for an emergency meeting of her senior leaders at her Gulshan office on Thursday night. 

Her adviser Khandaker Mahbub, briefing reporters at the party’s Naya Paltan headquarters, hoped that ‘one day the people of Bangladesh will know that Tarique Rahman is a victim of politics and has been wrongly punished by the government”.

As for the appeal, he said, “Legally, we cannot file an appeal until Tarique Rahman returns to Bangladesh.”   

He also responded to claims by government ministers who said the judge who had acquitted Tarique was swayed into making the decision. 

“If the BNP can influence the court’s decision, then just imagine the influence the government has on the judiciary,” he retorted.   

The Anti Corruption Commission’s case against Tarique was politically motivated, claimed the senior lawyer. 

“Not one paisa was laundered from Bangladesh. The government and court have both heard Khadiza Islam’s (witness) statement. There is no mention of Tarique Rahman there.”