Awami League, BNP trade barbs over Khaleda graft trial verdict

The Awami League and the BNP have warned each other over the verdict in Zia Orphanage Trust graft case against Khaleda Zia due to be delivered on Feb 8.

BNP leader Gayeshwar Chandra Roy has said the consequences would be ‘terrible’ if the verdict does not go in favour of their party chief.

Ruling Awami League leader Hasan Mahmud said if the BNP carries out arson attacks to protest against the verdict, the party itself would be “burnt to ashes”.

Home Minister Asaduzzaman Khan Kamal said the law enforcers will swing into action against attempt to launch violent protests against the verdict.

BNP Secretary General Mirza Fakhrul Islam Alamgir has criticised the home minister for his comments, saying these are ‘out of context’ as the verdict is yet to be delivered.

As the warnings are coming from leaders of both the parties, Khaleda is sitting with the BNP policymakers on Saturday night.

Dhaka’s Fifth Special Judge’s Court will deliver the verdict in the Zia Orphanage Trust graft case on Feb 8.

Khaleda is among six accused of embezzling Tk 21 million in foreign donations meant for the Trust when she was prime minister from 2001 to 2006.

They face up to life in prison if found guilty of the charges. In case of conviction, Khaleda will be disqualified for running in the next parliamentary elections.

The BNP alleges the government is prosecuting Khaleda to settle political scores. 

When the court set the verdict date on Thursday, Mirza Fakhrul said the government has already sealed the outcome of judgment.

While defending herself in the court, Khaleda said the trial was part of a conspiracy by the ruling party to get her convicted and make her ineligible to run in the general elections.

She also expressed doubt whether she would get justice, alleging that the ruling coalition leaders were influencing the trial with their comments.

On Friday, BNP Senior Secretary General Ruhul Kabir Rizvi said she would meet the members of the party’s National Standing Committee at her Gulshan office at 8:30pm on Saturday to ‘discuss the overall situation of the country’.

Several members of the committee said they were considering the meeting as ‘gravely important’ ahead of the verdict, which comes around a year before the next general elections.

The thoughts of the BNP leaders were reflected in comments made by Gayeshwar, a member of the BNP Standing Committee, at a discussion at the National Press Club in Dhaka in the morning.

“What we think of Feb 8 is if the court delivers a negative judgment on orders from the government, it will lay the foundation stone of the government’s ouster,” he said.

“Time will tell who will lead the nation and who will be on the street. I can only tell the government, ‘don't try to scare us with prison terms. We are already in a greater jail (in the country) with Khaleda Zia. We all are companions of Khaleda Zia in jail’,” he added. 

The BNP is yet to announce programmes over the verdict.

Gayeshwar said, “No matter whether we officially call any programme or not, we can’t guarantee that nothing will happen.”

But in a stern warning, Awami League Publicity and Publication Secretary Hasan told a human-chain programme in front of the National Press Club, “We’ve seen them (BNP) saying that the country will be in flames if Khaleda Zia is convicted.

“I want to tell Mirza Fakhrul, Rizvi and other BNP leaders that you carried arson attacks beforehand and got burnt yourself. If you try to do the same again, you will be burnt to ashes.”          

He also said the BNP thought the Awami League government engineered verdicts because it had done so when it was in power.

“They think the courts work the same way now. But now courts are independent. Maybe Khaleda Zia will be acquitted,” he said.

When the leaders of the two parties were trading the warnings, reporters asked Home Minister Kamal about the issue at an event at the Dhakeswari National Temple.

“Let me be very clear, the law enforcers will take any and every measure to safeguard the people,” he said.

Visiting Shawkat Ali’s home at Tikatuli to convey condolences to the bereaved family of the writer who died on Thursday, Mirza Fakhrul said, "The party is not giving any reaction officially before the delivery of the verdict."

“But the home minister’s comments are out of context. He holds an important position in the government. He controls the law and order. His comments have made it clear what they (the government) are thinking,” Mirza Fakhrul said.