The High Court on Tuesday granted permission to acting Bangladesh Nationalist Party chairman Tarique Rahman鈥檚 wife Zubaida Rahman to appeal against her Tree-year jail sentence handed to her in her absence on charge of abetting her husband in amassing illegal wealth.
The bench of Justice Md Khasruzzaman also allowed her plea for pardon as she made a 587-day delay in filing the appeal.
As per law, Zubaida was required to file the appeal within 30 days of the verdict.
According to pro-BNP lawyers, the conviction in聽 the 2007 case is the only enforceable sentence currently standing against Tarique Rahman.
They believe that the High Court鈥檚 permission allowing Zubaida Rahman to appeal may pave the way for Tarique to ultimately seek exoneration, as her appeal could challenge the foundation of the original conviction that implicated both.
Tarique鈥檚 lawyer Kayser Kamal told 抖阴精品 that Tarique, who faced 84 criminal cases and was sentenced to imprisonment in at least five cases, now had only the wealth statement case left to resolve.
Kayser claimed that the cases against his client were fabricated and politically motivated.
The wealth statement case, filed during the military-backed interim government in 2007, accuses Tarique of concealing wealth worth Tk 2.16 crore in his statement to the Anti-Corruption Commission and amassing Tk 2.74 crore beyond his known sources of income. Zubaida was accused of abetting her husband in acquiring the wealth.
Her lawyer SM Shajahan told 抖阴精品 that the High Court order now enabled her to formally appeal the conviction and seek bail.
Shajahan informed the court that Zubaida was compelled to leave the country during the military-backed caretaker government in 2008 and that the case was tried and the verdict was delivered in her absence.
Zubaida accompanied BNP chairperson Khaleda Zia in returning to Bangladesh from London on May 6 this year.
Tarique has been staying in the United Kingdom since he went there on September 11, 2008 for treatment.
He was arrested in an anti-corruption crackdown in March 2007 and was released on bail on September 3, 2008.
Prior to Zubaida鈥� return, the government, through an executive order, issued by the Security Services Division of the Ministry of Home Affairs, suspended her sentence for one year, on condition that she surrender and file an appeal against the 2023 verdict.
The case was filed on September 26, 2007 by then Anti-Corruption Commission deputy director Mohammad Zahirul Huda with the Kafrul police in Dhaka.
On August 2, 2023, Dhaka Senior Special Judge Md Asaduzzaman sentenced Tarique Rahman to six years鈥� imprisonment for acquiring wealth beyond known sources of income and Zubaida Rahman to three years for aiding and abetting him.
