845 BNP leaders, activists sentenced in 55 cases in Dhaka

As many as 845 leaders and activists of the Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP) and its associate bodies have been sentenced to different terms by the court in at least 55 cases. Of them, at least 615 were sentenced in November alone in 33 separate cases.

The BNP leaders and activists are being sentenced in cases right ahead of the 12th parliamentary elections. Majority of these cases were lodged in 2013 and 2018.

According to figures provided by relevant court sources and the lawyers, the BNP leader and activists were convicted in three cases lodged in August, six in October, 33 in November and 13 cases filed in the first week of December. There are no records of BNP activists being sentenced in September.

However, the figures are based only on the case data which are available. 

The convicts are not 845 different individuals. There are also cases of the opposition party activists being sentenced in several cases. According to the lawyers of the case defendants, the number of BNP activists convicted in several cases is approximately 10. At the same time, more than 300 of the accused were acquitted from these cases as the allegations brought against them were found not to be true.

The case statements say in most of the settled cases, the BNP leaders and activists were accused of holding illegal rallies, obstructing the police on duty, vandalising public transport, arson and using crude bombs to spread fear.

The duration of the prison terms is varying from six months to seven years. However, the accused were sentenced to two to three years in prison in most cases.

According to the lawyers, many of the accused BNP leaders and activists attended the court during the trial proceedings. However, most of them were not present in the court on the day of verdict. The court has issued arrest warrants against them.

Speaking regarding this, law minister Anisul Huq told Friday night the initiative was to settle the old cases to reduce the caseloads. The BNP activists are not being targeted here, he added.

The voting to the 12th parliamentary elections will be held on 7 January. The BNP has boycotted the polls demanding elections under a non-partisan government.

The party announced a grand rally in the capital on 28 October, which was thwarted in the face of police raids following the violent clashes erupted that day.

Since then, the police have arrested a number of central BNP leaders, including party secretary general Mirza Fakhrul Islam Alamgir. Many went into hiding.

The figure of the Dhaka Metropolitan Police (DMP) shows that some 153 cases were lodged accusing the BNP activists on from 28 October to 15 November on sabotage charges. The police didn’t disclose as to how many cases have been filed after that.