High Court confirms 13-year jail sentence for BNP leader Mir Nasir over hidden assets

The High Court has confirmed a trial court verdict sentencing BNP leader Mir Mohammad Nasir Uddin to 13 years in jail in a case over his having illegal assets.

Nasir’s son Mir Mohammad Helal Uddin has been sentenced to three years in prison in the case started during the 2007-08 emergency.

The panel of Justice AKM Abdul Hakim and Justice Fatema Najib gave their verdict on Tuesday after rehearing the case following orders from the Supreme Court’s Appellate Division.

Khurshid Alam Khan, a lawyer for the Anti-Corruption Commission, said the High Court ordered Nasir and Helal to surrender within three months from the day a copy of the verdict reaches the judge’s court.

“They must surrender if they want to appeal,” the lawyer added.

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He also said the fines and order to confiscate their “illegal wealth” remained unchanged in the  High Court verdict.

Nasir, the civil aviation and tourism minister of the 2000-2006 coalition government of Khaleda Zia, was arrested in 2007 during the military-backed government on charges of corruption.

The anti-graft watchdog prosecuted him and his son in March that year for allegedly concealing information on wealth worth over Tk 32.2 million and amassing illegal wealth of around Tk 293 million.

In the verdict on July 4 the same year, a Special Judge’s Court in Dhaka slapped fines of Tk 5 million on Nasir and additional two years in jail if he does not pay the fines. Helal was fined Tk 100,000 and given one month jail sentence in case of non-payment.

The High Court acquitted Nasir and Helal in August, 2010 following their appeals.

The ACC then challenged the High Court decision in the Appellate Division, which later cancelled the previous High Court verdict and ordered a rehearing.