While the opposition Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP) has recently been gearing up its anti-government movement defying all sorts of obstacles, party leaders say the government is reviving some pending cases against the leaders and activists with a motive to derail the movement.

Some BNP leaders and lawyers say authorities may send some party leaders to jail to convey a message to the opposition party that they would not be spared ahead of the next general election.

But the government repeatedly denied such allegations by BNP in the past, saying that authorities do not influence courts.  

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Khandaker Mosharraf Hossain, a member of BNP’s Standing Committee, told UNB that the government has become “very nervous” over the overall social, political and economic situation while there is pressure from the international community to restore democracy through an inclusive and credible election.

“The government has been failing to stop people’s participation in our rallies despite carefully-orchestrated obstacles against us.  So, the government is desperate to reinforce their repressive acts to suppress us,” he said.

“But it’s clear from our recent successful rallies that such a political tactic will not work,” he said.

On Tuesday, the Appellate Division of the Supreme Court cleared the way for a lower court to continue the trial involving graft charges against BNP Standing Committee Member Mirza Abbas. The Anti-Corruption Commission (ACC) filed the case in 2007 on charges of amassing wealth illegally.

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The trial proceedings against Khandaker Mosharraf on charges of siphoning off Tk 90 million are also set to enter its final stage. The ACC filed the case in 2014, accusing him of making money illegally when he was the health minister from 2001-2006.

The ACC has also started an investigation against nine other people, including Standing Committee members Nazrul Islam Khan and Amir Khosru Mahmud Chowdhury, for suspicious transactions before the 11th parliamentary elections.

Lawyers loyal to BNP say the trials of many cases against BNP leaders and activists are going on with lower courts in Dhaka and elsewhere.

BNP says around 36 lakh BNP leaders and activists are now facing over one lakh cases. They say the charges are politically motivated.

Read: Thousands join as BNP’s Khulna rally starts earlier than scheduled

Khandaker Mosharraf Hossain said the government has been trying to eliminate BNP by resorting to killings, enforced disappearances, politically motivated cases and various other repressive acts for nearly 14 years.

“They may try to jail our leaders on false charges and attack us repeatedly to demoralise our activists, but it’ll backfire ultimately,” he said.

“If it happens, our leaders will be encouraged further to intensify the movement for ousting the government. It will also dent the government’s image and help create public opinions against the regime both at home and abroad which will accelerate its ouster,” Mosharraf warned.

Read: Ahead of BNP rally, Khulna turns into a city of processions

The leader said their party leaders and workers are now not afraid of going to jail as they have been on a do-or-die movement.

“Our party Chairperson was jailed four years ago while our Acting Chairman Tarique Rahman has been staying abroad. Despite that, our party is united and our organisational capacity is increasing gradually. When they failed to harm BNP by jailing Khaleda Zia, they won’t be able to weaken the party by jailing some more party leaders,” Mosharraf said.

He said BNP’s leadership structure is not weak and the party has many “alternative leaders” to wage the anti-government movement under any circumstances.

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“So, jailing some of the leaders or our activists as a government tactic will not do any good,” he said.

Cases are a political weapon

Advocate Zainul Abedin, a BNP Vice Chairman and ex-president of the Supreme Court Bar Association (SCBA), said that the government has taken a strategy to revive the cases against the top BNP leaders as part of its strategy to suppress the ongoing movement.

“As the government has no popularity, it is trying to use the cases against BNP leaders as a weapon to make a political gain. They’re now activating some cases against the party’s top leaders to spread panic,” he said.

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The lawyer-turned-BNP leader also said the government wants to send some BNP leaders to jail to weaken the party. “We had an idea that the government can revive the previous cases as a weapon to cling to power.”

Not worried about jailing

Mahbub Uddin Khokon, a BNP Joint Secretary General and former secretary of the Supreme Court Bar Association (SCBA) said that there is hardly any BNP leader across the country who is not facing any politically motivated cases. “So, we’re not worried or afraid about any trial and jailing. We’ll face it both politically and legally.”

He said many old political cases with lower courts all over the country are also getting pace suddenly since BNP started the current movement in August. “The lower courts are taking a deposition in many cases filed during the 2014 polls and fictitious ones filed ahead of the 2018 election.”

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“They may convict some of our leaders in false cases. But we have many alternative leaders to lead the movement and make it a success. We’re aware of the government’s evil plan to put us in trouble by using courts. We’re also making our strategy to face it,” Khokon said.