DHAKA: A leading Bangladesh politician accused of masterminding a deadly 2004 grenade attack on former prime minister Sheikh Hasina had his conviction overturned on Sunday, his expected return from exile in London. There is another step.
Tariq Rehman, son of two-time prime minister Khaleda Zia and de facto leader of the Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP), was sentenced in absentia for the attack on a political rally called by Hasina Wajid.
But the High Court in Dhaka ruled that the conviction against him and 48 others was illegal because the trial court had followed the procedure. Not followed properly.
The BNP has consistently denied involvement in the attack and accused Hasina’s government of political interference in the case to persecute its opponents.
“The state presented 225 witnesses, none of whom testified about the accused throwing grenades or participating in conspiracy meetings,” lead defense lawyer SM Shahjahan told reporters after Sunday’s verdict.
A 2004 grenade attack targeted a rally of Hasina’s Awami League party, then in opposition, and the explosion occurred when Hasina was finishing her speech.
Tariq’s mother Zia, Hasina’s longtime rival and prime minister at the time, ran a government accused of interfering with the original investigation into the attack, which killed more than two dozen people.
Another defense lawyer, Shashir Munir, said that the subsequent investigation under Hasina led the suspects to incriminate Tariq and other BNP leaders in the attack.
“The Task Force for Intelligence detained the accused for 261 days and coerced their confessions,” he told reporters.
“While we sympathize with the victims of the grenade attack who deserve justice… the government should have found the real culprits,” he added. At odds with his mother, Tariq is widely expected to eventually return to Bangladesh and replace her as the BNP leader after living in exile in London for more than 15 years.