Former Bangla PM Khaleda Zia gets 5 years in jail in corruption case

Al-Jazeera
February 8, 2018

Dhaka, Feb 8: A court in the Bangladeshi capital, Dhaka, has sentenced former Prime Minister Khaleda Zia to jail in a corruption case.

Judge Md Akhtaruzzaman of the Special Court-5 on Thursday sentenced the two-time former prime minister to five years rigorous imprisonment. He read out selected parts of the 632-page verdict.

"The verdict proves no one is above the law," Law and Parliamentary Affairs Minister Anisul Haque said after the verdict was announced amid tight security.

Zia, chairperson of the country's main opposition Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP), and five others were accused of embezzlement of funds meant for the Zia Orphanage Trust.

Tarique Rahman, Zia's elder son and heir apparent, and four others were sentenced to 10 years in this politically significant case that comes ahead of general elections due in December.

Rahman, vice chairman of the BNP, has been living in the UK for the past nine years.

The six were accused of embezzling over Tk 21 million ($252,000) from foreign donations intended for a charity named after former President Ziaur Rahman, Zia's husband.

The four others who also received 10-year jail terms are former legislator Quazi Salimul Haq, former principal secretary to Zia, Kamal Uddin Siddique, Zia's nephew Mominur Rahman and businessman Sharfuddin Ahmed.

Zia's political future

The verdict could bar 72-year-old Zia from running in the general elections as the country’s constitution prohibits a convicted person sentenced to over two years from participating.

Zia, decked out in a cream-coloured printed chiffon sari and shawl, and sunglasses, appeared calm while hearing the verdict.

After the verdict, she was taken to the Woman Cell and Daycare Centre at the old Dhaka Central jail, where jail authorities have already renovated her cell.

Defence lawyer Khandakar Mahbub Hossain said the verdict failed to reflect the truth. "We will go to the higher court against this," he said, adding that he hoped Zia would receive bail soon.

BNP Secretary-General Mirza Fakhrul Alamgir accused the government of Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina of trying "to keep the BNP out of politics".

"They have already detained more than 3,000 of our activists and leaders from various parts of the country," he said.

Alamgir said that, anticipating "what the verdict would be", Zia had earlier ordered that all BNP activists and leaders "refrain from any violent protests and processions".

"We call peaceful protests all across the country from Friday noon," he said.

The BNP had boycotted the last election held in 2014, demanding that the elections be held under a caretaker government.

Police use tear gas

After the verdict, supporters hit the streets of Dhaka, blocking roads and clashing with police.

Earlier, thousands of BNP leaders and activists escorted Zia’s motorcade to court despite an overwhelming presence of security forces in the capital.

Activists from the ruling Awami League and its affiliate organisations had also occupied key points of Dhaka to stop BNP supporters from demonstrating.

Anticipating blockades and protests, the government had detained several senior BNP leaders, while several others have gone into hiding.

Human Rights Watch (HRW) has called on Bangladesh's government to stop arbitrary arrests and detentions of opposition BNP activists. It also accused the government of “violating the rights to free expression and peaceful assembly” by preventing opposition supporters from demonstrating.

The HRW, in a statement on Thursday, said Bangladesh should publicly order the security forces to abide by international standards on policing demonstrations.

Brad Adams, Asia director at HRW, said it was crucial for security forces to act with restraint at all times.

"The Bangladesh government’s claims to be open and democratic ring hollow as it cracks down on political dissent," he said.

Dhaka-based group Ain O Salish Kendra said a "total of 1,786 persons have been arrested in the last eight days".

First female prime minister

Zia was catapulted into Bangladeshi politics in the early 1980s when her husband former President Ziaur Rahman, was assassinated.

She became the Muslim-majority country's first female prime minister in 1991 after democracy was restored.

In the 35 years of her political career, Zia has spent time in jail on a number of occasions. This is the first time she has been convicted.

Zia faces a total of 37 cases, charge sheets have been submitted in 17 of them.

After skipping hearings some 143 times over the past six years, Zia finally appeared before the court on October 19, 2017, and obtained bail.

Asif Nazrul, Professor of law at Dhaka University, calls it "a controversial verdict". "There are many people in the country who will view this as a politically-motivated verdict."

He added that many people would see it as a tactic for removing the main contender in the election and a way of "demonising a political opponent".

Comments

FairMan
 - 
Thursday, 8 Feb 2018

After coming Loksabha election in India; Modi have to expect the same....

GoodLuck

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News Network
June 4,2020

London, Jun 4: Meghan, Britain's Duchess of Sussex, has spoken about events following the death of George Floyd saying she was sorry that children had to grow up in a world where racism still existed and that current events in the United States were "devastating".

"I know you know that black lives matter," Meghan said in a video she recorded for students graduating from her old high school in Los Angeles which was aired on Wednesday.

The death of Floyd has become the latest flashpoint for long-simmering rage over police brutality against African Americans and led to nationwide protests, some violent, with curfews imposed in some cities to quell the disorder.

"For the past couple of weeks I've been planning on saying a few words to you for your graduation and as we've all seen over the last week what is happening in our country, and in our state and in our home town of LA is absolutely devastating," said Meghan, whose mother is African American and father is white.

"First thing I want to say to you is that I'm sorry, I'm so sorry that you have to grow up in a world where this is still present," she said in her message to the girls at the Immaculate Heart High School.

The duchess, a former US actress and wife of Queen Elizabeth's grandson Prince Harry, said she wanted to say "the right thing" and was nervous her words would be "picked apart".

"The only wrong thing to say is to say nothing. Because George Floyd's life mattered, and Breonna Taylor's life mattered, and Philando Castile's life mattered and Tamir Rice's life mattered and so did so many other people whose names we know, and whose names we do not know," she said.

Britain's royal family by tradition does not comment on political issues. However, Meghan and Harry stepped down from their official royal roles at the end of March and are now living in Los Angeles with their baby son Archie.

In her message, the 38-year-old reflected on her own memories of the 1992 LA riots.

"Those memories don't go away and I can't imagine that at 17 or 18 years old, which is how old you are now, that you would have to have a different version of that same type of experience," she said.

"That's something you should have an understanding of, but an understanding of as a history lesson not as your reality. So I'm sorry that in a way we have not gotten the world to the place you deserve it to be."

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News Network
July 14,2020

Kathmandu, Jul 14: After staking claim to Indian territories of Lipulekh-Kalapani in  a new controversial map,  Nepal Prime Minister KP Sharma Oli on Monday claimed that Ayodhya, the birthplace of Lord Rama, is in Nepal and Lord Rama was Nepali.

“Although real Ayodhya lies at Thori, city in the west of Birgunj, India has claimed that Lord Rama was born there. Due to these continuous claims, even we have believed that deity Sita got married to Prince Rama of India. However, in reality, Ayodhya is a village lying west of Birgunj,” Oli claimed at an event organised at Prime Minister's residence in Kathmandu.

The Prime Minister also blamed India of cultural encroachment by “creating a fake Ayodhya.”

“Balmiki Ashram is in Nepal and the holy place where King Dashrath had executed the rites to get the son is in Ridi. Dashrath’s son Ram was not an Indian and Ayodhya is also in Nepal,” he claimed.

In an attempt to save self from criticism, Oli questioned how Lord Rama could come to Janakpur to marry Sita when there were "no means" of communication. He further said that it to be impossible for Lord Rama to come to Janakpur from present Ayodhya that lies in India.

“Janakpur lies here and Ayodhya there and there is talk of marriage. There was neither telephone nor mobile then how could he know about Janakpur,” Oli said.

Comments

Ahmed Ali Kulai
 - 
Tuesday, 14 Jul 2020

New controversy

 
BJP got next election Muddah

Farhan
 - 
Tuesday, 14 Jul 2020

Ab Ram Mandir Kaha Banega???

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News Network
February 27,2020

Washington, Feb 27: President Donald Trump has said that the US' relationship with India is "extraordinary" right now and a lot of progress was made in bilateral ties during his maiden official visit to the country where America will be doing a lot of business.

Talking to reporters, after his return from India on Wednesday, Trump said, "He (Prime Minister Narendra Modi) is a great gentleman, a great leader. It's an incredible country."

President Trump visited India from February 24 to 25. He was accompanied by first lady Melania Trump, daughter Ivanka Trump, son-in-law Jared Kushner and the top brass of his administration, including national security advisor Robert O'Brien.

They visited Ahmedabad, Agra and New Delhi before leaving for Washington on Tuesday.

During his stay, he addressed a massive rally in Ahmedabad, visited Agra and held official meetings in New Delhi.

The US President was feted at the world's largest cricket stadium in the "Namaste Trump" event in Ahmedabad and was cheered by tens of thousands of people.

"We were treated very, very well and we really enjoyed it. A lot of tremendous progress was made in terms of relationship - our relationship with India is extraordinary right now," he said.

"We are going to be doing a lot of business with India, they are sending billions and billions of dollars now to the United States," Trump said in response to a question.

In a tweet, his daughter Ivanka said that, Trump announced that US international development finance corporation "will establish a permanent presence in India to strengthen our economic ties, improve development plus further women's economic empowerment through WGDP (Women's Global Development and Prosperity Initiative)!"

On her arrival from India, she thanked PM Modi for "your warm hospitality as we visited your beautiful country and celebrated the strength, spirit and unity of the US and India!"

"Throughout our visit we saw monumental achievements of human creativity and proof of the infinite capacity of the human heart!" she said.

The first lady tweeted two pictures of her with Trump facing the Taj Mahal in Agra.

"One of the Seven Wonders of the World, the breathtaking Taj Mahal!" she said.

President Trump "reaffirmed the strong strategic partnership, vibrant economic ties and expanding security relationship between our two countries. Wonderful trip, but glad to be home! Thank you India!" said White House press secretary Stephanie Grisham.

During the visit, India and the US on Tuesday finalised defence deals worth $3 billion under which 30 military helicopters will be procured from two American defence majors for Indian armed forces.

The deals will include procurement of 24 MH-60 Romeo helicopters by India from the US at a cost of $2.6 billion. Another contract to acquire six AH-64E Apache helicopters for $800 million from the US is also on the table.

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