Dhaka, Aug 2 (UNB) – BNP Secretary General Mirza Fakhrul Islam Alamgir on Wednesday said the country’s people will not accept the ‘dictated’ verdict against its acting chairman Tarique Rahman and his wife Zubaida Rahman in a graft case.

Speaking at a press conference, he also said the verdict was given at the behest of Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina to thwart the ongoing one-point movement.

“The country’s people have turned down this dictated verdict and a farce in the name of trial with hatred. This verdict has exposed the vengeance of the head of the government (towards Tarique),” the BNP leader said.

He also said that when their current movement spread across the country like wildfire, the verdict was handed down as a trick of the government to confuse people.

Graft case: Tarique gets 9 years’ jail, Zubaida 3 years

“Revenge has been met by putting a gun on the neck of the court to make the ongoing movement leaderless. People won’t accept this dictated verdict, we strongly condemn and protest this verdict,” the BNP leader said.

Fakhrul also said the ongoing movement of the BNP cannot be suppressed with such repressive acts.

He urged the government to withdraw the sentence against them in ‘false’ cases.

“Although there are about 49 lakh cases pending with the court, the proceedings of this case completed at the speed of light, manifesting that this verdict has been given as per Sheikh Hasina's instructions,” Fakhrul alleged.

He said the verdict again is another example of the politicisation of the judiciary. “This dictated judgment is part of a continuous conspiracy to abolish the country's democracy.”

BNP loyalists staging demo at Nayapaltan protesting verdict against Tarique, Zubaida

“It is quite clear that the main objective of the government is to remove its main political opponent from the upcoming elections,” the BNP leader said.

BNP standing committee members Mirza Abbas, Gayeshwar Chandra Roy, Abdul Moyeen Khan, Nazrul Islam Khan and Amir Khosru Mahmud Chowdhury were present at the press conference.

Earlier in the day, a Dhaka court sentenced BNP’s acting chairman Tarique Rahman to nine years imprisonment and his wife Dr Zubaida Rahman to three years in jail in a graft case filed by the Anti-Corruption Commission (ACC) in 2007.