DHAKA (Reuters) - A Bangladesh court sentenced the acting head of the main opposition party to life in prison on Wednesday and 19 other people to death over a plot to assassinate Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina in 2004, lawyers said.

The ruling against Tarique Rahman, who was tried in absentia as he is living in exile in London, dims the future of his Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP) ahead of the South Asian nation’s next election in December.

The BNP has been in disarray since Rahman’s mother and former prime minister Khaleda Zia were jailed on corruption charges in February, while Rahman sought to run the party affairs from London.

The case related to an attack on a rally that Hasina was addressing in the capital Dhaka when she was in the opposition and Khaleda, her bitter rival, was in power.

Minutes into Hasina’s speech, assailants threw grenades that killed 24 people and wounded more than 500, most of them workers with her then-opposition Awami League party.

Judge Shahed Nur Uddin ruled the attack was a “conspiracy” mounted by the BNP to wipe out the Awami League leadership, lawyers quoted him as saying in the courtroom.

Deputy Attorney General Motahar Hossain said the BNP engaged members of militant group Harkat-ul Jihad al-Islami to carry out the attack targeting Hasina and her top colleagues.

The court held that the conspiracy was plotted in Rahman’s personal office with militant leaders in attendance.

The BNP said the charges were trumped up. “The judgment was not given in a just way, so we will go for appeal and we believe all of them will be freed without any charges,” BNP lawyer Sanaullah Mian told reporters.

Mosharraf Hossain Kazal, a lawyer for the government, said it would go to the Supreme Court to seek the death penalty for Rahman and his party colleagues who received lesser sentences.

The court convicted 49 people in all on Wednesday and sentenced 19 to death including ex-junior home minister Lutfuzzaman Babar. Eighteen of the 19 are in custody.

The court decision was the latest blow for the BNP, many of whose members are in prison.

“It is a disaster for the BNP, as its de facto chief has been implicated as the main planner and handed lifetime in prison,” said Ataur Rahman, a professor of political science at Dhaka University. “There is not enough time for them to be able to absorb this debacle.”

The BNP has not spelled out its plans for the election but has called for a neutral caretaker government to be put in place before the vote. A similar demand before the 2009 election was rejected, prompting the BNP to boycott those polls.

The BNP has also urged the government to free Khaleda, jailed for five years in February on a corruption conviction.</s>Dhaka, Bangladesh - A Dhaka court has handed down death penalty to 19 people, including two former ministers, and sentenced a top opposition leader to life imprisonment over a 2004 attack on the current Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina.

"They shall be hanged by their neck," said Justice Shahed Nuruddin of the special tribunal, who also awarded life imprisonment to Tarique Rahman, exiled son of former Prime Minister Khaleda Zia.

Zia is already languishing inside a Dhaka jail following her conviction in a corruption case, which came in advance of the country's general election scheduled to be held by the end of the year.

Rahman, who is the acting chairman of the opposition Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP), was jailed for 10 years in absentia in the same corruption case as her mother. He has been living in exile in London since 2008.

Bangladesh's Law Minister Anisul Haque said the government will move a higher court to seek death penalty for Rahman too.

The special court awarded life imprisonment to Tarique Rahman [File:Pavel Rahman/AP]

"We will also take diplomatic steps to bring Tarique back from London," he said.

The security in and around the special tribunal in the capital, Dhaka, was beefed up anticipating protests from BNP leaders and activists.

Senior BNP leaders, including former State Minister of Home Affairs Lutfuzzaman Babar and former Deputy Minister of Education Abdus Salam Pintu, were given capital punishment for hatching the plot to assassinate Hasina.

The BNP said the conviction was "politically motivated" and the party does not "accept it".

Mirza Fakhrul Islam Alamgir, the party's secretary general, said the verdict against its leaders is "just another example of using judiciary for political revenge".

2004 attack

The "August 21 grenade attack case", as it is known in Bangladesh, relates to the deadly attack on a rally organised by Hasina's Awami League (AL) in Dhaka in 2004 when she was the opposition leader.

Hasina narrowly survived the attack after some of her party leaders formed a human shield around her, but up to 20 people were killed, including top AL leader Ivy Rahman.

The case documents said the attack was a "meticulously designed plot" to assassinate Hasina hatched by the BNP.

The BNP and Jamaat-e-Islami coalition government, which was in power at the time of the attack, was accused of scuttling the investigation to protect the masterminds.

After the verdict on Wednesday, Sayed Rezaur Rahman, one of the main prosecutors, said, "The grenade attack is considered one of the most heinous crimes in the country’s history. This is not a politically motivated case, rather a criminal one."

According to the documents submitted by the prosecution, the attack was carried out by the armed group, Harkat-ul-Jihad (HuJI).

Citing the alleged involvement of Mufti Abdul Hannan, the prosecution also alleged the purpose of the attack was to establish "fanatic Islam" in the south Asian country.



Hannan, a senior HuJI leader accused of multiple attacks in Bangladesh, was executed last year.

The BNP alleges that Hasina is crushing dissent and putting rivals behind bars to strengthen her re-election bid.</s>A Dhaka court has handed down death penalty to 19 people, including two former ministers, and sentenced a top opposition leader to life imprisonment over a 2004 attack on the current Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina.

The special court awarded life imprisonment to Tarique Rahman, exiled son of former Prime Minister Khaleda Zia, who is already languishing inside a Dhaka jail following her conviction in a corruption case.

Rahman, who is also the acting chairman of the opposition Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP), was also jailed for 10 years in absentia in the same corruption case as her mother. He has been living in exile in London since 2008.

The security in and around the special tribunal in the capital, Dhaka, was beefed up anticipating protests from BNP leaders and activists.

Senior BNP leaders, including former State Minister of Home Affairs Lutfuzzaman Babar and former Deputy Minister of Education Abdus Salam Pintu, were given capital punishment for hatching the plot to assassinate Hasina.

The ‘August 21 grenade attack case’, as it is known in Bangladesh, relates to the deadly attack on a rally organised by Hasina’s Awami League (AL) in Dhaka in 2004 when she was the opposition leader.

Hasina narrowly survived the attack after some of her party leaders formed a human shield around her, but up to 20 people were killed, including top AL leader Ivy Rahman, in the attack.</s>A Bangladesh court on Wednesday sentenced 19 people to death over a 2004 grenade attack on the current prime minister, although a top opposition leader escaped with a life sentence.

The attack in Dhaka on a rally by Sheikh Hasina, at the time in the opposition and now prime minister, left her injured and killed 20 people.

Tarique Rahman, son of then-premier and Hasina’s ally-turned-archrival Khaleda Zia, was among 49 people on trial, with Rahman charged with criminal conspiracy and multiple counts of murder.

Rahman, 50, was tried in absentia after he fled the country for London in 2008.

He now leads the main opposition Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP) from exile after Zia was jailed in February for five years for corruption.

“We thank God for the verdict,” prosecutor Mosharraf Hossain told reporters amid tight security.

“We hoped that Tarique Rahman would get the death sentence,” he said, adding the court observed that Rahman played a key role in the attack.

Hossain said two former ministers including a powerful ex-home minister and two former heads of the country’s powerful intelligence agencies were among others handed the death sentence.

A total of 15 Islamist extremists from the banned Harkat-ul Jihad al Islami (HuJI), whose leader was executed in April last year, were also sentenced to death for planning and carrying out the attack.

Prosecutors said former BNP minister Abdus Salam Pintu colluded with HuJI and handed over grenades for the attack.

Hasina was addressing the rally when the grenades exploded and suffered severe injuries in one ear. Among the dead was the wife of a former president.

Four years later, Hasina stormed back to power after leading a secular coalition to a landslide victory in elections in December 2008.

Three militants were also charged over the attack and later executed in a separate trial.

Death sentences are common in Bangladesh, with hundreds of people on death row. All executions are by hanging, a legacy of the British colonial era.

At least nine top Islamist extremists, five leaders of the country’s largest Islamist party and a senior opposition leader have been hanged since 2007.

Home Minister Asaduzzman Khan said he was satisfied with the verdict, saying they got justice.

Rahman’s lawyer Sanaullah Mia said the charges against his client were politically motivated.

He questioned the timing of the verdict, saying it was aimed at keeping Rahman out of elections expected for December.

“There was no evidence or witness against him. No witness could say that conspiracy was hatched at Hawa Bhaban,” he told AFP, referring to a former BNP office used by Rahman.

BNP spokesman Fakhrul Islam Alamgir rejected the verdict, saying it was “a naked display of political vengeance”.

Police spokesman Sohel Rana said security was tightened in courts and across the South Asian nation to avert any violence following the verdict.

“Police are fully prepared to prevent any violence centring on the verdict,” he told AFP earlier.

Zia was transferred to hospital last weekend from the 19th-century Dhaka Central Jail, where she is the only prisoner.

She has been on trial in a special room of the prison on additional graft charges that her supporters say are politically motivated.

The 73-year-old was already suffering from health issues including arthritis, diabetes and knee replacements when she was sentenced in February.

Her party boycotted the 2014 election in which Hasina returned to power but is expected to contest the election due in December.</s>Dhaka, Bangladesh - A Dhaka court has handed down death penalty to 19 people, including two former ministers, and sentenced a top opposition leader to life imprisonment over a 2004 attack on the current Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina.

The special court awarded life imprisonment to Tarique Rahman, exiled son of former Prime Minister Khaleda Zia.

Zia is already languishing inside a Dhaka jail following her conviction in a corruption case, which came in advance of the country's general election scheduled to be held by the end of the year.

Rahman, who is the acting chairman of the opposition Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP), was jailed for 10 years in absentia in the same corruption case as her mother. He has been living in exile in London since 2008.

The security in and around the special tribunal in the capital, Dhaka, was beefed up anticipating protests from BNP leaders and activists.

Senior BNP leaders, including former State Minister of Home Affairs Lutfuzzaman Babar and former Deputy Minister of Education Abdus Salam Pintu, were given capital punishment for hatching the plot to assassinate Hasina.

The "August 21 grenade attack case", as it is known in Bangladesh, relates to the deadly attack on a rally organised by Hasina's Awami League (AL) in Dhaka in 2004 when she was the opposition leader.

Hasina narrowly survived the attack after some of her party leaders formed a human shield around her, but up to 20 people were killed, including top AL leader Ivy Rahman.

The case documents said the attack was a "meticulously designed plot" to assassinate Hasina hatched by the BNP.

The BNP and Jamaat-e-Islami coalition government, which was in power at the time of the attack, was accused of scuttling the investigation to protect the masterminds.

According to the documents submitted by the prosecution, the attack was carried out by the armed group, Harkat-ul-Jihad (HuJI).

Citing the alleged involvement of Mufti Abdul Hannan, the prosecution also alleged the purpose of the attack was to establish "fanatic Islam" in the south Asian country.

 

Hannan, a senior HuJI leader accused of multiple attacks in Bangladesh, was executed last year.

The BNP alleges that Hasina is crushing dissent and putting rivals behind bars to strengthen her re-election bid.</s>DHAKA: A Bangladesh court on Wednesday sentenced Tarique Rahman, the acting chairman of the opposition Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP), to life in jail, and 19 more to death, over a plot to assassinate Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina in 2004, lawyers said.The opposition is in disarray ahead of general elections set for December, with Tarique Rahman trying to run its campaign from exile in London after his mother and party leader, former premier Khaleda Zia, was jailed on corruption charges in February. A special court gave the death penalty to 19 people, several of them BNP leaders, including former junior home minister Lutfuzzaman Babar, for an attack on a public rally in 2004, government lawyer Mosharraf Hossain Kazal told reporters. Rahman and other BNP members were among the 19 sentenced to life terms. However, the government is dissatisfied with the sentence and will appeal to the Supreme Court, seeking the death penalty for Rahman, Kazal added.

“We are not happy with this judgment as we expected that all of them (BNP members) would get death sentences, especially Tarique,” he said. Minutes into Hasina’s speech at the rally in 2004, assailants threw grenades that killed 24 people and wounded more than 500, most of them workers of her Awami League party, which was in the opposition at the time.

The court delivered the verdict “as per government wish,” said BNP Secretary General Mirza Fakhrul Islam Alamgir. “We reject this verdict,” he told a news briefing. The party plans to challenge the court verdict, its lawyer, Sanaullah Mian, said.</s>DHAKA: A Bangladesh court on Wednesday (Oct 10) sentenced 19 people to death over a 2004 grenade attack on the current prime minister, although a top opposition leader escaped with a life sentence.

The attack in Dhaka on a rally by Sheikh Hasina, at the time in the opposition and now prime minister, left her injured and killed 20 people.

Tarique Rahman, son of then-premier and Hasina's ally-turned-archrival Khaleda Zia, was among 49 people on trial, with Rahman charged with criminal conspiracy and multiple counts of murder.

Rahman, 50, has been tried in absentia after he fled the country for London in 2008.

He now leads the main opposition Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP) from exile after Zia was jailed in February for five years for corruption.

"We thank God for the verdict," prosecutor Mosharraf Hossain told reporters on Wednesday amid tight security.

"We hoped that Tarique Rahman would get the death sentence," he said, adding the court observed that Rahman played a key role in the attack.

Hasina was addressing the rally when the grenades exploded and suffered severe injuries in one ear. Among the dead was the wife of a former president.

Four years later, Hasina stormed back to power after leading a secular coalition to a landslide victory in elections in December 2008.

Two other ministers, former heads of the intelligence agencies and police and a key aide of Zia were also facing death sentences in the case.

Three Islamist extremists were also charged over the attack and later executed in a separate trial.

Death sentences are common in Bangladesh, with hundreds of people on death row. All executions are by hanging, a legacy of the British colonial era.

At least nine top Islamist extremists, five leaders of the country's largest Islamist party and a senior opposition leader have been hanged in Bangladesh's jails since 2007.

Rahman's lawyer Sanaullah Mia said the charges against his client were politically motivated.

He questioned the timing of the verdict, saying it was aimed at keeping Rahman out of elections expected for December.

"There was no evidence or witness against him. No witness could say that conspiracy was hatched at Hawa Bhaban," he said, referring to a former BNP office used by Rahman.

Police spokesman Sohel Rana said security was tightened in courts and across the South Asian nation to avert any violence following the verdict.

"Police are fully prepared to prevent any violence centring on the verdict," he said earlier.

Zia was transferred to hospital last weekend from the 19th-century Dhaka Central Jail, where she is the only prisoner.

She has been on trial in a special room of the prison on additional graft charges that her supporters say are politically motivated.

The 73-year-old was already suffering from health issues including arthritis, diabetes and knee replacements when she was sentenced in February.

Her party boycotted the 2014 election in which Hasina returned to power but is expected to contest the election due in December.</s>Former Bangladesh prime minister Khaleda Zia’s son Tarique Rahman was awarded life imprisonment on Wednesday by a Dhaka court over attack on Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina in 2004, according to media reports. The court also handed down death penalty to 19 people, including former State Minister of Home Affairs Lutfuzzaman Babar and former Deputy Minister of Education Abdus Salam Pintu. Tariq Rahman was sentenced in absentia, as he lives in London. At least 24 people were killed and over were 500 injured in the attack on an Awami League rally on August 21, 2004.

Nearly 4,000 security personnel were deployed in Dhaka ahead of the verdict. Tariq Rahman is the acting chairman of the opposition Bangladesh Nationalist Party and has been living in exile in London since 2008. He was sentenced to jail 10 years ago in a corruption case while her mother Khaleda Zia was jailed for five years in the same corruption case as her son in February 2018.

Hasina was opposition leader at that time and now she is prime minister of Bangladesh. Hasina survived in the attack with a partial hearing loss.

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The investigative authorities, during previous hearings in the case, told the court that the attack was a plot to assassinate Hasina hatched by the BNP. According to the documents submitted by the prosecution, the attack was carried out by an armed group, Harkat-ul-Jihad (HuJI).

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The BNP and Jamaat-e-Islami coalition government, which was in power at the time of the attack, was accused of scuttling the investigation to protect the masterminds.</s>DHAKA - A Bangladesh court on Wednesday sentenced 19 people to death over a 2004 grenade attack on the current prime minister, although a top opposition leader escaped with a life sentence.

The opposition staged protests and slammed the sentences as “political vengeance” as police went on high alert across the South Asian country, with a bus in the north allegedly fire-bombed.

The 2004 attack in Dhaka on a rally by Sheikh Hasina, at the time in the opposition and now prime minister, left her injured and killed 20 people.

Tarique Rahman, son of then-premier and Hasina’s ally-turned-archrival Khaleda Zia, was among 49 people on trial, with Rahman charged with criminal conspiracy and multiple counts of murder.

Rahman, 50, was however tried in absentia after he fled the country for London in 2008. He now leads the main opposition Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP) from exile after Zia was jailed in February for five years for corruption. “Does politics mean attacking the opposition?” judge Shahed Nur Uddin said over a portable loudhailer as he first read out the verdict and then handed down the sentences. “We thank God for the verdict,” prosecutor Mosharraf Hossain told reporters. “We hoped that Tarique Rahman would get the death sentence,” he said, adding the court observed that Rahman played a key role in the attack.

Hossain said two former ministers including a powerful ex-home minister and two former heads of the country’s powerful intelligence agencies were among others handed the death sentence. A total of 15 Islamist extremists from the banned Harkat-ul Jihad al Islami (HuJI), whose leader was executed in April last year with two others, were also sentenced to death for planning and carrying out the attack.

Prosecutors said former BNP minister Abdus Salam Pintu colluded with HuJI and handed over grenades for the attack. Hasina was addressing the rally when the grenades exploded and suffered severe injuries in one ear. Among the dead was the wife of a former president.

Four years later, Hasina stormed back to power after leading a secular coalition to a landslide victory in elections in December 2008.

Death sentences are common in Bangladesh, with hundreds of people on death row. All executions are by hanging, a legacy of the British colonial era.

At least nine top Islamist extremists, five leaders of the country’s largest Islamist party and a senior opposition leader have been hanged since 2007.

Home Minister Asaduzzman Khan said justice had been done. But Rahman’s lawyer Sanaullah Mia said the charges were politically motivated. He questioned the timing of the verdict, saying it was aimed at keeping Rahman out of elections expected for December.

“There was no evidence or witness against him. No witness could say that conspiracy was hatched at Hawa Bhaban,” he told AFP, referring to a former BNP office used by Rahman.

Convicted former home minister Lutfozzaman Babar told AFP that his death sentence was “completely unjst” and that he was punished for refusing to testify against Zia and her son. “Allah knows it’s injustice,” he said. BNP spokesman Fakhrul Islam Alamgir called the verdict “a naked display of political vengeance”.

BNP activists staged protests in the capital Dhaka and at several towns across the country, moments after news of the verdict spread.

Two people were injured as a motor biker allegedly fire-bombed a public bus in the northern town of Shahjahanpur. Shahjahanpur police chief Latiful Islam said an alleged BNP youth wing activist was arrested for the attack. “He was trying to create anarchy,” he said.

Police commissioner Asaduzzaman Mia said police were on high alert across the country and would do “whatever is needed to provide safety to the people”.

“No anarchy will be tolerated,” he said.

Zia was transferred to hospital last weekend from the 19th-century Dhaka Central Jail, where she is the only prisoner. She has been on trial in a special room of the prison on additional graft charges that her supporters say are politically motivated.</s>DHAKA: Tarique Rahman, the fugitive son of former Bangladesh premier Khaleda Zia, was sentenced to life and 19 others were given death sentence by a court here on Wednesday over the 2004 grenade attack that killed 24 people and injured 500 others, including Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina.

The attack on an Awami League rally on August 21, 2004, targeted Hasina, who was the opposition leader at that time. Hasina survived the attack with a partial hearing loss. The verdict comes ahead of the election in December.

Zia's Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP) had boycotted the 2014 election. Security was tightened in the capital as the accused were brought to the court. Rahman, 50, was tried in absentia with the court declaring him a fugitive.

He now lives in London where he is believed to have sought asylum through the British authorities have declined to reveal his immigration status. He leads the main opposition Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP) from exile after Zia was jailed in February for five years for corruption.

Judge Shahed Nuruddin of Dhaka's fast-track Tribunal pronounced the judgment ordering Rahman to be sent to prison for life along with 18 others. Former state minister for home Lutfozzaman Babar is among 19 people who were sentenced to death.

Rahman, two former ministers including Babar and former top police and intelligence officials of the then BNP-led four-party alliance government were among 49 accused in the cases.

The judge made 12-point observations on the background, motive and consequences of the attack.

Investigations found an influential quarter of the then BNP-led government, including Rahman, masterminded and sponsored the attackers -- the operatives of militant Harkatul Jihad al Islami (HuJI).

Investigators said Hasina was the main target of the attack. Hasina was injured in the attack while the party's women front chief and former president Zillur Rahman's wife Ivy Rahman were among the dead. Thirty-one of the 49 convicts were present in the court on Wednesday while others were sentenced in absentia.

"We are taking steps to bring back the fugitive convicts," home minister Asaduzzaman Khan Kamal told reporters as the verdict was announced.

Those who were sentenced to death were fined Taka one lakh each. The High Court must confirm their death penalty after a mandatory review.

Other political figures, who were given the life sentence, are ex-premier Zia's the then political adviser Haris Chowdhury and former BNP lawmaker Qazi Shah Mofazzal Hossain Kaikobad.
A Dhaka court sentences 19 people to death, including two former ministers, and sentences Bangladesh Nationalist Party acting chairman Tarique Rahman to life imprisonment over a 2004 attack on Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina.