Published : 05 May 2022, 07:09 PM
Updated : 18 Jul 2022, 02:51 PM
Salim landed at the Dhaka airport at 12:25 pm on Thursday, said his aide Mohiuddin Mahmud Belal.
The MP then went directly to Old Dhaka's Khaje Dewan Jamme Mosque to take part in funeral prayers for an Awami League activist from Lalbagh.
"He will then meet with party leaders and activists before going home," Belal said.
Asked when Salim would turn himself in to the court, his aide said: "That depends entirely on the lawyer. He will do so when his lawyer advises it."
Pran Nath Debnath, the lawyer for the MP, said they had not decided when Salim would surrender to the Special Judge’s Court No. 7.
The High Court ordered him to turn himself in within a month after the formal order reaches the trial court. The trial court received a copy of the order on Apr 25, which means Salim has until May 24, to surrender, according to Pran Nath.
“TV channels say he will surrender on May 16. That’s not correct. The date has not been fixed yet. I’d been with him all the day since his arrival at the airport. I’ll let you know when the date is decided.”
The politician from Old Dhaka, who has been convicted in an illegal wealth case filed by the Anti-Corruption Commission, left Dhaka for Bangkok on Saturday.
The case was filed in 2007 during the rule of the army-backed caretaker government.
A special court handed him a 13-year jail sentence the following year.
SALIM’S TRIP ABROAD WAS LEGAL: HOME MINISTER
Home Minister Asaduzzaman Khan said Haji Salim’s trip abroad was legal.
“He (Haji Salim) went to Bangkok for emergency treatment and returned,” the home minister said in response to a question from the media at the Secretariat on Thursday.
“As far as the legal question is concerned, his trip came before the High Court decision.”
“He is a member of parliament. He respects the law. His trip abroad was in line with the law.”
Asked whether a convict could make such a trip, the home minister said: “You know that when the High Court delivers its verdict, there is an official written version. The verdict was announced, but it has not been officially implemented. He left and returned before it was implemented.”
