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Download PDF A Dhaka court yesterday relieved former president and Jatiya Party Chairman HM Ershad of the gold smuggling case.
The judgement of the case had been adjourned seven times before for different reasons.
Former president Ershad faced numerous charges after he was deposed in a popular uprising in 1990. In August and September last year, he was acquitted of four graft cases following his announcement of joining the BNP-led four-party alliance.
The gold smuggling case was filed 16 years ago on July 17, 1990 while president Ershad was in office. Primarily, the persons accused in the charge sheet were Bernhard Rudiger from Germany, David Anthony Chalmar Chaker from UK, former Zia International Airport manager Maj (retd) Ashraf Uddin Sekender, airport security guard Abu Taher, former chairman of Civil Aviation Authority of Bangladesh Mainul Islam, and Maksudur Rahman.
Ershad’s name was included in the charge sheet on August 31, 1991, but the trial against Ershad was shelved for several years following a High Court (HC) stay order.
Judge Mohammad Abul Bashar of the First Additional Metropolitan Sessions Judge’s Court handed down the verdict in Ershad’s presence in a packed courtroom.
In the order, the court mentioned that in a bid to establish the abetment charges against Ershad in the smuggling of gold, the prosecution maintained that Ershad during his presidency had tried to influence the investigation officer (IO) of the case to remove the name of Air Commodore (retd) Mainul Islam, another accused in the case and former chairman of Civil Aviation Authority of Bangladesh, from the charge sheet. The prosecution also claimed that Ershad had also tried to bail Mainul out.
However, the three prosecution witnesses (PW), who were produced earlier by the prosecution, in their statements given before the court did not confirm any such charges against Ershad. They only mentioned that Ershad had a good relationship with Air Commodore (Retd) Mainul Islam, the judge said.
Furthermore, it would be quite impossible for an IO to ignore the directive of a sitting president and not remove the name of an accused from the charge sheet. Since the IO did not remove anyone’s name including Mainul’s from the charge sheet, it is clear that Ershad did not influence the IO. As such, the court was acquitting Ershad, declaring him innocent, since the charges brought against him have been found false, the judge added.
Terming the case “false” and “fabricated”, a cheerful Ershad in his instant reaction told reporters, “I am getting justice. Justice will prevail and I will be acquitted in all the cases if the trials are conducted neutrally.”
Following the court order, JP leaders and activists burst out in joy on the court premises.
Ershad along with his party leaders and activists appeared before the court at 10:30am and the court started session at 11:00am. The judge took five minutes to read out the highlights of the judgement.
Both the prosecution and the defence completed their arguments. The court recorded statements of eight prosecution witnesses including the complainant and the IO of the case.
The prosecution said on July 17, 1990, customs officials held four people including two foreign nationals at Zia International Airport when they tried to smuggle 3.6 kg of gold, worth about Tk 2.5 crore, into Bangladesh.
A case was filed the same day with Cantonment Police Station against four individuals — Bernhard Rudiger from Germany, David Anthony Chalmar Chaker from England, former Zia International Airport manager Maj (retd) Ashraf Uddin Sekender and airport security guard Abu Taher.
Later, in the charge sheet of the case, the IO of the case pressed charges against Maksudur Rahman and Mainul Islam along with the four mentioned in the case.
During investigation, the IO found evidence of Ershad’s involvement in the smuggling and his name was included in the charge sheet on August 31, 1991.
On May 14, 1992, after completion of the trial, Judge ATM Fazle Kabir sentenced Bernhard Rudiger and David Anthony Chalmar Chaker with life imprisonment each. He also sentenced Ashraf with 14 years in jail while awarding Taher a seven-year jail term.
The court acquitted Maksudur Rahman and Mainul Islam as the charges brought against them were not proved.
Assistant Public Prosecutor Abdul Hannan appeared for the state while advocate Shekh Mohammad Serajul Islam represented Ershad in the trial of the case.
September 19th, 2007 at 1:44 am
The justice is blind & depend on evidence.If Ershad ig guilty & hidden the truth, he will not escape Judgement of ALLAH.
So why to bear grudge against any one.
September 19th, 2007 at 5:22 am
It seems you know or may be you have witnessed ALLAH’s judgement! If General Ershad changes his belief from ISLAM to BUDHIST,suppose,Then who will
judge him?