Barrister Mahbub Uddin Khokan, counsel for Tarique Rahman, alleged on Monday that a Dhaka court’s order to deport Tarique Rahman from the UK to Bangladesh with the help of the Interpol was infructuous as it had no legal basis. “There is no precedence of using the Interpol to arrest a political leader following a government order. It was done only to tarnish Tarique’s political image”, Mahbub Uddin Khokan, MP, said at a press briefing, at the Law Reporters’ Forum, in the Supreme Court building.
Khokan arranged the press conference to protest the arrest warrant issued by a Dhaka court on Sunday against BNP senior vice-president Tarique Rahman in connection with a money laundering case.
Former Supreme Court Bar Association (SCBA) president advocate Zainul Abedin, former SCBA secretary barrister Badruddoza Badal, barrister Nasir Uddin Ahmed Asim, barrister Kaiser Kamal, barrister Raghib Rauf Chowdhury and Miza Al-Mahmud were also present at the press briefing.
Khokan said that the government had an ill-motivated plan to create mental pressure on Khaleda Zia, the chief of BNP and former prime minister of the country.
“Tarique Rahman, who’s now on bail, went to the UK for medical treatment after taking the Supreme Court’s permission in 2008. He is undergoing treatment for various illnesses. He will return to the country after recovery”, Khokan said.
Khokan also alleged that the government did not submit the apex court order during the issuance of the arrest warrant against Tarique. “If the attorney general provided real information before the trial court, it would not have issued the arrest warrant”, Khokan said.
On 20 May, Tarique attended a programme in East London in which he asked party supporters to launch a stronger movement to topple the government.
Khokan said that the state minister for law, Quamrul Islam, declared, only after Tarique had made this statement, that the government would bring Tarique back with the assistance of the Interpol.
The Anti-Corruption Commission (ACC) filed the petition following Quamrul’s statement, which indicated that the ACC works according to government directives, Khokan alleged.
Meanwhile, barrister Kaiser Kamal, another lawyer for Tarique Rahman, served a legal notice to forest and environment minister Dr Hassan Mahmood for making defamatory remarks about Tarique Rahman.
The notice asked the environment minister to apologise unconditionally to Tarique Rahman, or to prove the allegations in two weeks’ time.
-With The Independent input
