Dhaka, Nov 27 (IANS) Bangladesh’s Awami League party on Thursday strongly condemned the “baseless and fabricated corruption case” against former Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina and her family members, which it said was designed to malign them.
The remarks came after a Dhaka court on Thursday sentenced Hasina to 21 years of imprisonment in three corruption cases filed by Bangladesh’s Anti-Corruption Commission (ACC) over the irregularities in the allocation of plots under the Purbachal New City Project. Additionally, her son Sajeeb Wazed Joy and daughter Saima Wazed Putul were also reportedly sentenced to five years each in prison in one of the three cases.
The Awami League announced that it will hold protests, demonstrations and resistance programmes across the country on Friday in opposition to the verdict issued in the “false and baseless corruption case”.
Slamming the Muhammad Yunus-led interim government, the Awami League alleged that Bangladesh is witnessing how the “illegal, usurping, killer-fascist Yunus clique” has taken control of state power and plunged the country into rampant chaos.
“There is no rule of law in Bangladesh. There is no justice in the courts. The courts have become tools to protect the interests of the illegal regime and to serve their political motives. Today’s judiciary is not only subservient, it is run by loyal servants who have mortgaged their conscience. This is why the court dismissed the 6.66 billion taka tax-evasion corruption case against the usurper Yunus with a stroke of the pen. But it has now fabricated baseless accusations regarding a legally purchased plot in an attempt to defame members of the Bangabandhu family,” read a statement issued by the Awami League.
“The law is clear: those who do not own land in their own names may purchase plots by following the prescribed process. Under the undisputed leadership of the Father of the Nation, Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman, Bangladesh won its independence. Bangabandhu and his family have made immense sacrifices and contributions to the nation. Members of this family who do not own land in Dhaka city have every right to purchase a RAJUK plot. Where is the corruption in that?” the statement added.
According to the Awami League, Sajeeb Wazed Joy has already issued a counter-challenge, stating that the family members whose names appear on the plot allotments do not own any other property. The party stressed that if the “current illegal Yunus regime” can, it should prove otherwise.
“Instead of presenting evidence or following proper legal procedures, the regime is trying to disgrace the Bangabandhu family purely out of political malice. This is also an attempt to push them out of politics,” the Awami League asserted.
Condemning “all conspiratorial tactics of the illegal, killer-fascist Yunus clique,” the party expressed hope that the people of Bangladesh will not accept the verdict.
–IANS
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