The BNP on Thursday said whenever it came to power it would ensure justice for all that had been wrongly accused and detained, including its leader Salauddin Quader Chowdhury who on October 1 was sentenced to death as a war criminal.
“There is currently no rule of law in the country,” the main opposition party’s acting secretary general Mirza Fakhrul Islam Alamgir said at a demonstration.
“If the election is held under a non-partisan government and we assume office, we will ensure justice for those who have been accused and detained wrongly, including Salauddin Quader Chowdhury,” he said.
On Wednesday, the BNP had alleged that its Standing Committee member Salauddin Quader had been deprived of justice in his trial for crimes against humanity committed during the Liberation War in 1971.
Fakhrul was speaking at a demonstration organised by the Dhaka city unit of the party at a rally at Suhrawardy Udyan as part of the BNP’s protest against what it said a “conspiracy to eliminate political opponents and the government’s evil design to destroy all state organisations.”
A lot of banners and placards were seen at the demonstration venue, terming the verdict against Salauddin Quader illegal and demanding his immediate release.
Fakhrul said his party wanted the trial of the crimes against the humanity but it should have transparency and international standards – it should not aim to achieve political motives.
“The verdict had been published on the internet before it was delivered in the court. Is there anything called the rule of law in the country? We want justice, but people will not accept any politically motivated trial against any person,” he said.
He also said people of the country wanted to know who had freed 195 identified war criminals.
The BNP leader urged all to get united forgetting any division to oust the government from office to establish the rule of law and good governance in the country.
BNP Standing Committee member Moudud Ahmed said the leak was the government’s “biggest surprise.”
Rafiqul Islam Miah said: “There is no way the verdict can be executed because the investigation is still going on.”
Jamiruddin Sircar, another Standing Committee member, said there was nothing to worry about the verdict as “it is not the final judgment. The verdict will go to the Supreme Court. We believe that Salauddin Quader Chowdhury will return to us after being proved innocent.”
Mirza Abbas said all the verdicts delivered by the tribunal so far were “questionable,” as the tribunal did not have the international standard. “Salauddin Quader Chowdhury often spoke against the prime minister and her family inside and outside parliament. That is why this verdict was given.
“If the verdict is implemented, it will be a killing.”
Addressing the demonstration, Salauddin Quader’s wife Farhat Quader Chowdhury said: “I have come here not to address the programme but to express my gratitude to the BNP.”
Farhat said she had got the verdict not from the tribunal; she rather got it from Mirza Fakhrul’s press conference where he had said Salauddin Quader had been deprived of justice.
“Ninety percent people of the country have accepted the verdict [Fakhrul’s statement]. If Salauddin Quader Chowdhury is hanged, it will not sadden me anymore.”
She asked the audience: “Did Salauddin Quader Chowdhury do anything seditious after the Liberation War?” The audience said: “No.”
Farhat said: “People of Chittagong observed hartal on Thursday. No one, including the Awami League and the BNP, got out of their houses…People of Chittagong have showed that Salauddin Quader Chowdhury is not a war criminal.”
Dhaka city unit BNP Convener Sadeque Hossain Khoka chaired the demonstration.
Meanwhile, at least three handmade bombs were exploded near the local BNP office and Kajir Dewri intersection in Chittagong on Thursday afternoon after a rally protesting the death sentence of Salauddin Quader was held.
Assistant Commissioner of Chittagong Metropolitan Police, Kotwali circle, Mirza Saiem Mahmud said one explosion took place near Nasiman Bhaban, the local BNP office, sometime around 1pm. Another live handmade bomb was recovered from the scene, he added.
Two more bombs set off in the Kajir Dewri intersection around 1:15pm, the official said. “Police could not detect who set off the bombs.”
Earlier in the day, hundreds of BNP supporters gathered on the BNP office premises around 11:30am to protest the verdict against Salauddin Quader. They claimed that the judgement was politically motivated.