Tuesday, April 1st, 2008 An anti-graft tribunal yesterday sentenced former BNP lawmaker M Naser Rahman to 13 years in prison for concealing wealth information and amassing assets beyond known sources of income.The Special Court-9 also fined Naser, son of former finance minister M Saifur Rahman, Tk 5 lakh. In the event of a default in payment, he will have to serve one more year in jail.Besides, the government was ordered to confiscate his wealth worth around Tk 1.80 crore.Of the term, 10 years' rigorous imprisonment was given for illegally accumulating wealth and three years' imprisonment for concealing information in wealth statement ...
(read more) Tuesday, April 1st, 2008Unbridled corruption through abuse of power kept Naser Rahman in the limelight during much of the BNP-led four-party alliance rule.Though there were allegations of graft aplenty against him, no-one dared to press any formal charge against the eldest son of Saifur Rahman, then the finance minister, for fear of reprisal.Hefty commissions from businesses in exchange for winning them contracts made him astronomically wealthy in a very short span of time.But things began to change for the worse for him soon after the present military-backed caretaker government took over on January 11 last year.He was detained as ...
(read more) Monday, March 31st, 2008Detained Awami League (AL) President Sheikh Hasina yesterday told a special court that the jail authorities are depriving her of fundamental human rights and produced her before the court forcefully although her treatment had not yet completed.During the hearing of charge framing in the barge-mounted power plant case against her and seven others, Hasina repeatedly complained about the jail authorities' behaviour and the quality of treatment she had received at hospital.Special Court-1 of Judge Firoz Alam later postponed the hearing until April 3 following Hasina's complaints and on the ground that her senior counsels were absent as she was not ...
(read more) Monday, March 31st, 2008People sentenced to two years or more for corruption or corrupt practices won't be allowed to make voluntary disclosure before the Truth and Accountability Commission within five years of their release.The three-member Truth Commission would be a combination of former officials from the judiciary, military and civil administration.An eminent citizen can also be appointed to the commission, according to the draft of the "Voluntary Disclosure Ordinance, 2008".The commission may have up to six sub-commissions with its headquarters in Dhaka to cover the whole country.In addition to having no provision to challenge the commission's orders, its members will also enjoy indemnity ...
(read more) Monday, March 31st, 2008A visiting German parliamentary delegation yesterday said Berlin would not show any understanding and would exert political influence if the caretaker government in Bangladesh shows "unwillingness" to pass on power to an elected government.Expressing its optimism that the general elections are going to be held by the end of this year, the six-member delegation stressed the need for internal democratic reforms of the political parties and asked the government to either relax or lift the state of emergency to pave the way for it."If we see it is simply the government that does not want to pass on power, then ...
(read more) Monday, March 31st, 2008 A delegation of liberation war veterans from the Indian armed forces led by Lt Gen (retd) JFR Jacobs calls on Chief of Army Staff Gen Moeen U Ahmed at the Army Headquarters in Dhaka yesterday. Photo: ISPR "We were comrades in arms, we fought together shoulder to shoulder," said Lt Gen (retd) JFR Jacob, former chief of general staff of eastern command of India.The then Indian Army commander of the eastern front said this yesterday as he was reminiscing Bangladesh's Liberation War of 1971 at a reception in the capital's Bangladesh-China Friendship Conference Centre.Sector Commanders Forum (SCF) organised the ...
(read more) Sunday, March 30th, 2008The Truth and Accountability Commission will have the power to hold closed-door hearings on corruption or corrupt practices in certain cases, although there will be provision of public hearings.The draft of the proposed law, "Voluntary Disclosure Ordinance, 2008" says the Commission may hold such hearings if there is a "likelihood" that an open hearing will result in harming the person concerned.The Commission may also hold such a hearing on appeal of the person who has made the voluntary disclosure before it.Though someone taking the advantage of voluntary disclosure will not have to serve in jail, they will be awarded up ...
(read more) Sunday, March 30th, 2008Chief Adviser (CA) Fakhruddin Ahmed yesterday said the objective of the electoral reforms undertaken by his caretaker government is to curb undue influence of money-muscle and misuse of authority in the forthcoming election.He told Asian media personalities that primary goal of the caretaker government is to hold a free, fair, transparent and credible election by the end of 2008.Fakhruddin said his government believes in freedom of press, as the press builds the bridge between the people and the government.The head of the caretaker government made the remarks while exchanging views with a delegation of Asia News Network (ANN) at the ...
(read more) Sunday, March 30th, 2008Bangladesh Awami League (AL) will stage a daylong mass hunger strike across the country next month to press for its five-point demand that includes announcement of election schedule and release of detained party chief Sheikh Hasina.The decision came from a daylong meeting of Awami League Central Working Committee (ALCWC) held at the party's Dhanmondi office with Acting President Zillur Rahman in the chair.The three other demands are: Bringing down high prices of essentials, trial of war criminals, and improving the law and order.Briefing reporters after the meeting, Acting AL General Secretary Syed Ashraful Islam declared the mass hunger strike, saying ...
(read more) Saturday, March 29th, 2008Former chief of the Indian army's eastern command Lt Gen (retd) JFR Jacob yesterday said it was the freedom fighters' gallantry that liberated Bangladesh from Pakistan occupation.He said the full credit goes to them. They have done the real job and their acts of valour won the nation independence.The man who is credited with making Gen Amir Abdullah Khan Niazi, the then commander of Pakistan army's eastern command, surrender in public on December 16, 1971, said the freedom fighters including the soldiers of the East Bengal Regiment had emerged as “terror for the Pakistani troops”.Now leading an 11-member delegation of ...
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