Tarique gets 9 years' jail, Zubaida 3 years

A Dhaka court on Wednesday sentenced BNP acting chairman Tarique Rahman to nine years' rigorous imprisonment and his wife Zubaida Rahman to three years' imprisonment in a case filed by the Anti-Corruption Commission (ACC) on charge of amassing assets through illegal means and concealing information in their wealth statements.
Dhaka Metropolitan Senior Special Judge Md Asaduzzaman delivered the verdict.
The court also issued arrest warrants against the couple, as they are absconding as per the law. It also ordered confiscation of Tarique Rahman's assets worth Tk 27.49 million in favour of the state.
The court sentenced Tarique to six years' rigorous imprisonment under Section 27(1) of the ACC Act 2004 and three years' rigorous imprisonment under Section 26(2).
The court fined Tarique Tk 30 million, in default of which he would have to suffer three more months in jail.
It sentenced Zubaida Rahman to three years' imprisonment in the case under Section 27(1) of the act and fined her Tk 3.5 million, in default she has to serve one month more in jail.
On July 27, the same court concluded the arguments in the case, and fixed August 2 for announcing the verdict.
The court did not allow any counsel for representing Tarique Rahman and Zubaida Rahman in the trial proceedings. A petition was submitted to the court to appoint a lawyer for Tarique Rahman and Zubaida Rahman, although they were fugitives. However, the judge rejected the application.
The court recorded statements of 42, out of 56, prosecution witnesses, including complainant of the case. On April 13, the same court framed charges against them.
The case against the son of former Prime Minister Khaleda Zia and his wife was filed during the rule of the army-backed caretaker government. Tarique was arrested and imprisoned for one and a half years before he was released on bail.
While on bail, Tarique travelled to the United Kingdom with his family and never returned home. He became a senior vice chairman of BNP while living abroad, and still serves as acting chairman of the party.
Zubaida, a physician by profession, joined the government health services before she was sacked in 2014, as she did not return to her workplace after taking leave.
On September 26, 2007, the anti-graft body filed the case with Kafrul Police Station against Tarique, Zubaida and her mother Syeda Iqbal Mand Banu for amassing assets worth Tk 48.2 million through illegal means and concealing the information of Tk 21.6 million in their wealth statements.
The investigation officer of the case pressed charges against the three with the Chief Metropolitan Magistrate's Court, Dhaka, on March 31, 2009. However, the trial proceedings against Iqbal Mand Banu were rescinded.
Earlier, Tarique was sentenced to life in jail in the August 21 grenade attack case. He was also sentenced to different terms in three other cases, including the Zia Orphanage Trust graft case, and a money laundering case.

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