Trial proceedings of 5 cases against Fakhrul stayed

The High Court today stayed trial proceedings of BNP Secretary General Mirza Fakhrul Islam Alamgir in five cases filed in 2015 for vandalism and arson.

The court also issued five rules asking the government to explain why the proceedings of the cases against Mirza Fakhrul should not be scrapped.

The stay orders will continue until disposal of the rules, according to the HC orders.

The bench of Justice Md Miftah Uddin Choudhury and Justice Zafar Ahmed came up with the orders and the rules after hearing five separate petitions filed by Fakhrul seeking stay of the trial proceedings of the cases.

The cases were filed by the police with different police stations including Ramna and Paltan in Dhaka on charges of vandalism of vehicles and setting them on fire during anti-government agitations on different days in 2015, Deputy Attorney General Shaikh AKM Moniruzzaman Kabir told The Daily Star.

The trial proceedings of the cases were stayed on the ground that he was not present on the spots during the incidents, he said, adding that the government will move appeals before the Appellate Division of the Supreme Court against the HC’s stay orders.

DAG Moniruzzaman also said that the HC has so far stayed the trial proceedings of total 16 vandalism and arson cases filed against the BNP leader.