The acquittal of Tarique Rahman, BNP’s senior vice chairman and the eldest son of former prime minister Khaleda Zia, has surprised the Anti-Corruption Commission, which was the complainant of the money laundering case against Tarique and his friend Giasuddin Al Mamun.
“It makes us wonder,” ACC Commissioner Md Shahabuddin Chuppu last night told the Dhaka Tribune over phone, adding that they will appeal against the verdict with the High Court.
Shahabuddin, a former district judge who looks after the investigations of the anti-graft watchdog body, said: “The judgment is full of error.”
A Dhaka court on Sunday awarded Mamun seven years imprisonment and fined him Tk400m for laundering Tk204m to Singapore. The court however acquitted BNP leader Tarique from the charges.
The ACC chairman on Sunday refrained from making any comment over the verdict; but ACC Commissioner Shahabuddin said: “We are confident that both the accused in the case were equally liable for the offense.
“It could have been a fair judgment, if both of the accused were convicted,” he said.
The commissioner said, “As we did not get full copy of the judgment yet, we do not know on what ground the court acquitted one accused.”
“We will appeal against the verdict after getting full copy of the judgment,” Shahabuddin said.