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Published : 02 Dec 2024, 03:41 AM
The Awami League has slated the High Court verdict acquitting all suspects of the killing of 24 people in a grenade attack on the party's rally two decades ago.
The deposed ruling party took to Facebook to register its protest against the verdict on Sunday.
"The court has illegally acquitted all the accused convicted in the Aug 20 grenade attack case, violating the Constitution, law, and all judicial norms, and has blocked the path to justice,” the post read.
"The Awami League believes that this will be marked as the worst and despicable black chapter in the history of democracy, rule of law and judiciary in Bangladesh."
The High Court on Sunday acquitted BNP Acting Chairman Tarique Rahman and former state minister for home affairs Lutfozzaman Babar in the case filed over the grenade attack on an anti-terrorism rally of the then opposition Awami League at Dhaka's Bangabandhu Avenue in 2004.
The bench of Justice AKM Asaduzzaman and Justice Syed Enayet Hossain delivered the verdict after hearing the appeal and the death references of the accused in the lawsuit.
The trial court had sentenced 19 people to death, and 19 others, including Tarique, to life terms. Additionally, 11 police and military officers were handed varying prison terms.
In its observations on the verdict, the court said the 2011 chargesheet which had formed the basis for the trial was illegal.
The court ruled that the supplementary chargesheet, which was based on the 2011 confession of Mufti Abdul Hannan, was "illegal".
The judgement also highlighted that no witnesses had observed any of the accused throwing grenades, which made the convictions based solely on confessions invalid.
On Aug 5, Sheikh Hasina resigned as premier and fled to India, becoming the only head of government in Bangladesh who has chosen to flee the country after leaving power.
There are reports that many senior leaders of the Awami League, like Hasina, left the country. A number of former ministers and MPs have already been arrested. The rest have gone into hiding.
Dozens of murder cases have been initiated over the past two months. Charges were brought against Awami League leaders, including Hasina, in many of these complaints.
The Awami League and the party’s leaders and activists have been seen active mainly on social media in the last four months after the end of its over 15-year rule.
The party has been issuing statements from time to time on its official Facebook page on different issues.
Sunday's statement was named “Awami League's protest over the acquittal of all accused in the Aug 21 case”.
The statement read, "The sacred Constitution, which was drafted in the constituent assembly of independent Bangladesh in 1972 under the leadership of Father of the Nation Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman, promises to ensure the rule of law, fundamental human rights, equality, freedom, and justice for all citizens.”
"Today, by acquitting all the 49 convicts in the Aug 21 case, this unconstitutional and illegal so-called interim government has swung the axe on the sacred Constitution.”
Referring to the plot of the lawsuit, the statement read: “Awami League would like to recall that after the Aug 21 grenade attack, police did not take the case at the behest of the BNP-Jamaat alliance government. They ran the ‘Joj Mia Drama' with the ulterior motive of stopping the trial of the horrific attack and killings.”
“A fresh investigation into the two cases [murder and explosives] was opened later during the 1/11 government in 2007. The Criminal Investigation Department, or CID, of police filed the chargesheet after the investigation in 2008, the second year of the 1/11 government."
Citing the chargesheet, the party said: "The attack was carried out to make Awami League leaderless by killing Sheikh Hasina. Subsequently, the court completed the trial of the attackers, the planners, and the instructors of the murders and the attack in a completely impartial manner.”
“During the Awami League government, the court completed the trial of this case by following all legal, judicial rules, and customs of justice for about 11 years.”
“At the command of the unconstitutional and illegal so-called interim government, a High Court division delivered this farcical verdict completely unconstitutionally and illegally to stop the trial of the tragic Aug 21 killings and grenade attack, rejecting the death references passed in the trial court verdict and granting the appeal of the accused.”
Alleging that the High Court bench gave a ‘farcical requisitionary verdict’, the Awami League accused the BNP of having a ‘close relationship’ with one of the judges of the bench."
