Graft case verdict: BNP to hold protest rallies on Friday, Saturday

BNP will hold protest rallies across the country on Friday after the Jumma prayers and will organize demonstrations nationwide on Saturday, protesting the verdict against party chief Khaleda Zia in a corruption case. BNP Secretary General Mirza Fakhrul Islam Alamgir made the announcement during a press briefing at the party's Nayapaltan headquarters on Thursday afternoon, shortly after the verdict was delivered. "This verdict will deepen the political crisis. People will lose faith in the justice system as well," the BNP leader said. Fakhrul also alleged that the government had used state mechanisms to create panic, claiming police attacked BNP activists accompanying Khaleda Zia's convoy. He further said that more than 3,000 BNP activists had been arrested so far, with the party chief's personal secretary Shimul Biswas and Chittagong BNP unit President Shahadat Hossain among 1,000 detained on Thursday.