DHAKA, 27 June 2007 — The wife of former Bangladesh military ruler Hossain Mohammad Ershad declared yesterday that she had taken control of his Jatiya Party, a day after former loyalists moved to clip the wings of a former premier.
Rowshan Ershad, the ex-strongman’s political number two, told a news conference that “from now on I am the acting head of the Jatiya Party.”
“Ershad is no longer its chief,” she said. “One man cannot run the party for ever and the time has come to end his absolute authority over the party.” Jatiya is the country’s third biggest party after the Awami League and Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP), led respectively by former premiers Hasina Wajed and Khaleda Zia.
Ershad told a separate news briefing he remained at the party helm and vowed: “I will expel her from the party for gross indiscipline and disobedience.”
Rowshan, twice estranged from Ershad but reunited with him after his nine-year rule ended in 1990, said yesterday she had the support of a majority of Jatiya party seniors and policy makers.
Court Stays Action on Death Sentence
The country’s top court yesterday stayed further action on the death sentence handed down to retired Maj. A.K.M. Mohiuddin Ahmed who was extradited to Dhaka from the United States last week. The high court had earlier upheld the death sentence given to Mohiuddin for the assassination of country’s founding father and first Prime Minister Sheikh Mujibur Rahman. The stay order came following an appeal by Mohiuddin in the Supreme Court. Mohiuddin was deported to Dhaka from Los Angeles on June 18. He was arrested on arrival at Zia International Airport and sent to jail.
Minister Gets Jail Term
A court in emergency-ruled Bangladesh yesterday sentenced a former government minister to five years behind bars for possessing alcohol at his home without a permit, officials said.
Anwar Hossain Manju, now the editor of the prominent Bengali daily Ittefaq, was found guilty in absentia of storing foreign wine at his Dhaka residence, Deputy Police Commissioner Shahidul Haq Bhuiyan said. Manju left the country in March for medical treatment, although the prosecution has accused him of going into hiding.
Police seized 21 bottles during a raid on his home in March, said defense lawyer Shamsul Kabir, adding that he would appeal against the sentence.
“The lower court did not hear our arguments or allow us to cross-examine the witnesses. We think it’s a maximum punishment for a minor crime,” he said.
Manju was communications minister during the Awami League party’s 1996-2001 administration. He is also the estranged brother of the current interim government’s law minister. Bangladesh’s interim government was installed in January after elections were canceled and a state of emergency imposed.
