DHAKA, 18 September 2006 — A court in the Bangladesh capital yesterday cleared former military ruler Hussain Muhammad Ershad of corruption charges that have been pending for 15 years, a public prosecutor said.
The not-guilty verdict was handed down by a Dhaka court amid media reports that such a decision would pave the way for an alliance between Ershad and Prime Minister Khaleda Zia’s four-party coalition government ahead of national polls in January.
The case, lodged by the now defunct Anti-Corruption Bureau in 1991, alleged that Ershad used his power to give 49 residential plots to ministers, politicians, journalists and film stars.
Ershad, 77, was Bangladesh’s president between 1982 and 1990.
“The judge in his verdict said that the case was very weak as there was a lack of witnesses and poor investigation,” Additional Public Prosecutor Golam Mostofa Khan said.
Ershad’s Jatiya Party, the second largest opposition group, has not been an ally of Khaleda’s Islamist-allied coalition government but has supported it on many issues in Parliament. In recent months the party with its stronghold in northern Bangladesh has been courted by both the ruling coalition and the main opposition Awami League party to form a coalition.
The secretary-general of his party, A.B.M. Ruhul Amin Howlader, said the acquittal of Ershad did not have anything to do with his possible alliance with the ruling party.
“We have not finalized our decision whether we are going to join the four-party alliance. We are still negotiating with them,” he said.
Meanwhile, police said yesterday they had arrested eight members of a killing squad led by a Dhaka University student, the latest swoop on criminals ahead of next January’s election.
The group was detained in the capital, Dhaka, on Saturday and a cache of arms and ammunition was seized from them, a senior police officer said.
“Leaders of killing squads now hire young boys, between 10 and 15 years of age, to carry, transport or hide firearms and ammunition,” said the officer, who asked not to be named.
“Police usually don’t take such boys as suspects. But lately we had intelligence tips that killers flooding into the capital ahead of the election have changed operational tactics,” he said.
The country has turned volatile ahead of the polls, with major political parties using violence to settle scores against their rivals, often leading to deaths and injuries.
Another police officer said crime gangs, including “killers for hire,” were flooding major cities, hoping for “brisk business” ahead of the polls.
Police said the gangs were not linked with militants blamed for last year’s countrywide serial bomb blasts that killed at least 30 people and wounded 150.
The Islamists want the introduction of Shariah law in Bangladesh.
Seven of their top leaders, including Shaikh Abdur Rahman and Siddikul Islam Bangla Bhai, are awaiting death by hanging after courts sentenced them to die.
State Minister for Home Affairs Lutfuzzaman Babar said he hoped the sentences would be carried out before Khaleda ends her five-year rule at the end of October.
Khaleda will hand over power to a caretaker authority, which will supervise the January 2007 parliamentary election.
