BNP will decide 'right time' for Tarique's return, Fakhrul says as legal hurdles cleared

The BNP secretary general responds to questions on the party’s acting chairman’s homecoming after cases are withdrawn

Tarique Rahman will return to Bangladesh when the “right time" comes, BNP Secretary General Mirza Fakhrul Islam Alamgir has said.

At a press conference at the party chairperson’s office in Gulshan on Saturday morning, Fakhrul was asked when the party’s acting chairman would return following the withdrawal of all cases against him.

"We have not set any specific date for his return yet," he said.

"When we feel the time is right, he [Tarique Rahman] will come back," he added.

The last pending case against Tarique was disposed of on Mar 20, when Dhaka’s Special Judge Court-3 acquitted him, former state minister for home Lutfozzaman Babar, and six others in a bribery case.

The case involved an alleged Tk 210 million bribe taken to clear Bashundhara Group Director Sabbir’s murder suspect Sgafiat Sobhan Sanvir.

Following the verdict, Tarique’s lawyers confirmed that there were no longer any legal barriers to his return.

According to his lawyers, around 84-85 cases were filed against him during the caretaker government of 1/11 and the Awami League’s tenure.

These included cases related to the Aug 21 grenade attack, the Zia Orphanage Trust corruption case, illegal wealth, money laundering in Singapore, a defamation case in Narail, and a sedition case in Dhaka.

Tarique was arrested during the 1/11 government’s rule and was allegedly subjected to brutal torture in police remand and solitary confinement.

He spent 554 days or 18 months in jail.

After securing bail in 12 cases, he was released from PG Hospital on Sept 3, 2008, and later moved to London with his family for medical treatment.