BNP’s senior vice chairman Tarique Rahman is currently facing 14 more
cases, 10 of which have been stayed by the High Court, after his
acquittal of a charge of money laundering by a special court on Sunday,
lawyers have told New Age.
The acquittal of Tarique Rahman of the charge would bolster his chances
to return to the country after more than five years in exile, pro-BNP
lawyers hoped.
The verdict is seen as a morale booster for BNP which is currently in
movement to press for a non-party caretaker government to oversee
elections set for January, reported Agence France-Presse on Sunday.
Tarique, the eldest son
of former prime minister Khaleda Zia, has been living in London since
September 2008 after he was forced into exile by the-then army-backed
government.
Tarique has been implicated in at least 17 cases, including the deadly August 21 grenade attack cases.
Ten of the cases have already been stayed by the High Court, said lawyer
Syed Zaynul Abedin Mesbah, who is monitoring the cases of the Zia
family.
With the latest verdict on Sunday in the money laundering case, Tarique has been acquitted of three cases.
A special court deferred several times the hearing for charge framing
against Tarique and her mother Khaleda Zia in the Zia Orphanage Trust
graft case before finally posting the hearing for December 8 while a
financial loan case filed by the Sonali Bank was pending with another
court.
His trial took place in absentia in three cases – the money laundering
case and two cases relating to the August 21, 2004 grenade attacks on an
Awami League rally which the current prime minister Sheikh Hasina
survived with injuries but which left 24 people, including the Mahila
League president Ivy Rahman, dead.
Treated as a fugitive, none defended Tarique in the cases.
In two cases filed in connection with the August 21, 2004, the speedy
trial tribunal judge Shahed Nuruddin so far recorded the depositions of
only 73 out of the 491 prosecution witnesses since the trial began in
October 2011 against 52 people, including Tarique Rahman and his cousin
Saiful Islam Duke.
When approached, Syed Rezaur Rahman, the chief prosecution counsel, told
New Age recently, ‘Whoever is in power, the trial should be fair in
order to ensure justice.’ (source)