Bangladesh’s DhakaTarique Rahman, the son of former Prime Minister Khaleda Zias, and forty-eight other people were cleared by the Bangladesh High Court on Sunday, overturning their convictions in connection with the 2004 grenade attack on a political demonstration.
After former Prime Minister Sheikh Hasin fled the country to India in August after a huge revolt that claimed hundreds of lives, the ruling comes at a crucial moment as the South Asian nation experiences political unrest. While in self-exile in London, Rahman is the acting chairperson of Zia’s Bangladesh Nationalist Party, and if his party is elected to power, he might take over as Bangladesh’s next leader.
Rahman and the other 48 were convicted in 2018 of carrying out the attack that killed two dozen people and injured over 300 others at a gathering attended by Hasina’s followers, who were then the opposition’s leader. Zia’s party accused the court of being politically motivated when it sentenced Rahman to life in jail and 19 of them to death.
After the defendants filed an appeal, a two-judge panel on Sunday threw out the whole 2018 decision for all 49 men. Defense attorney Shishir Monir informed media that the court has ruled that the trial and judgment were unlawful.
According to him, this has led to the acquittal of all accused.
Hasina and Zia, the nation’s most influential politicians and longstanding adversaries, were prime minister from 2001 to 2006.
Muhammad Yunusha, a Nobel Peace Prize winner, has been the nation’s acting leader since Hasina’s departure, but officials have been finding it difficult to maintain order in the face of turmoil, mob justice, and allegations of systematic persecution of minority groups, especially Hindus, which Yunus denied.
In a Facebook post on Sunday, Hasina’s Awami League party attacked the court’s decision, claiming that the people of Bangladesh would be the ones to prosecute those who carried out the assaults and that it wasn’t a Yunus Kangaroo court.
Zia’s party applauded the decision on Sunday.
The decision may be appealed to the Supreme Court by the attorney general’s office.
Although the Yunus-led administration has not announced a date for the upcoming election, Rahman and his party hope it will happen soon. The Jamaat-e-Islami party, which had significant cabinet positions and shared power with Zia’s party from 2001 to 2006, stated that it wants to let the Yunus-led administration remain in office in order to implement reforms in a number of areas prior to a new election.
Hasina is accused of crimes against humanity for the murders that occurred during the student-led rebellion in the summer. Interpol has been asked to assist the interim government in apprehending Hasina. India’s response to Bangladesh’s request for Hasina’s extradition under a mutual treaty remains unclear.
Note: Every piece of content is rigorously reviewed by our team of experienced writers and editors to ensure its accuracy. Our writers use credible sources and adhere to strict fact-checking protocols to verify all claims and data before publication. If an error is identified, we promptly correct it and strive for transparency in all updates, feel free to reach out to us via email. We appreciate your trust and support!