DHAKA, 27 July 2007 — Courts in Bangladesh yesterday sentenced three former ministers to jail terms ranging between eight and 31 years for links to terror groups and corruption.
Aminul Haque, post and telecommunications minister in the government of Khaleda Zia, is the highest-ranking government official sentenced for links with militants.
“The court has sentenced the former minister, as it was proved that he helped Islamists thrive,” a registrar at a court in the northwestern city of Rajshahi said. Judge Rezaul Islam handed the same sentence on the same charges to 24 other defendants. The court also fined each defendant 25,000 takas ($362).
Aminul Haque was tried and sentenced in absentia after he failed to respond to court summons following a nationwide crackdown on corruption and abuse of power launched by the country’s army-backed interim administration in January.
Bangladesh suffered a series of bomb attacks in 2005 which authorities said were carried out by militant groups as part of their campaign to force the government to introduce the Shariah in the mainly Muslim country.
The violence has since eased after the heads of two militant groups were arrested and executed following their conviction.
A special court dealing with high-profile corruption convicted a former junior minister of corruption and sentenced him to 13 years in jail. Mohiuddin Khan Alamgir, a member of the Awami League party headed by Hasina Wajed, was found guilty of earning wealth illegally and concealing information about his wealth.
Alamgir’s lawyer, Syed Rezaur Rahman, said his client would appeal the verdict. Judge Shahed Nuruddin said in his verdict that evidence showed Alamgir amassed more than $435,000, an amount that does not match his declared assets earlier submitted to the official Anticorruption Commission.
Alamgir, a top bureaucrat before joining politics, stood silently as the judge announced the verdict.
Another court in northwestern Natore town sentenced former Deputy Minister for Land Ruhul Quddus Talukdar Dulu to eight years in prison for arson and violence.
— Additional input from agencies
