A Chittagong court has sentenced BNP Vice Chairman Giasuddin Quader Chowdhury to three years of rigorous imprisonment on charges of threatening Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina with death.
Senior Judicial Magistrate of Chittagong Shahidullah Kaiser pronounced the verdict on Wednesday, Chittagong District Court Inspector Subrata Banerjee told Dhaka Tribune.
The verdict was passed in the absence of the BNP leader – also the younger brother of executed war criminal Salauddin Quader Chowdhury – as he is currently absconding.
The same court also fined him with Tk5,000, and sentenced him to serve three months in jail by default.
According to court sources, Nazimuddin Muhuri, Awami League general secretary of Fatikchhari upazila unit, filed a case with the court on May 30 last year against the BNP leader, who allegedly told at an iftar party that “the prime minister’s fate would be even worse compared to her father, Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman.”
BNP organized the program, marking the 37th death anniversary of its founder and late president Ziaur Rahman.
A Chittagong court issued an arrest warrant for him on May 31.