Haris Chy sentenced to 59 yrs in jail, Moni 14 years

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Haris Chowdhury, political secretary to former prime minister Khaleda Zia, was Sunday sentenced in absentia to 59 years jail for cheating, corruption and abuse of power, reports UNB.
Court sources said, Haris would undergo jail for 10 years, as the punishment on five separate charges will run concurrently.
Metropolitan Sessions Judge Azizul Haq in his verdict also fined him Tk 1.5 million.
The prosecution said, Haris, who acted as chairman of National Tea Company during the previous government, was given a car for his official use. But he illegally sold the car. He was also involved in cheating, corruption and abuse of power.
Haris went into hiding since the present government came to power on January 11. He was earlier jailed for three years in a corruption case. He also faces a number of other corruption cases.
Meanwhile, former BNP lawmaker from Barguna Nurul Islam Moni, along with his three party colleagues, was Sunday awarded 14 years rigorous imprisonment in a case of embezzling relief CI sheets.
The three other convicts are Patharghata upazila BNP president Shamsuddin and general secretary Saiful Islam Jamal, and party activist Jamal.
The trial court also fined the convicts Tk 5,000 each, in default, to suffer one year more in jail. All the four were tried in absentia, as they went into hiding to dodge arrest.
According to prosecution, joint forces, during the ongoing drive against corruption and crime, seized 79 pieces of relief CI sheets from Patharghata upazila BNP office on February 18. A case was filed in this connection.
After examining records and 33 witnesses, Additional District and Sessions Judge Md Shahjahan Majumder pronounced the verdict.
Other four accused persons were acquitted of the charge for lack of evidence.