Khaleda's Conviction: BNP announces new programme

The BNP yesterday announced fresh agitation programmes demanding the release of party Chairperson Khaleda Zia.

The programmes include conducting mass signature campaigns across the country tomorrow, submitting memorandums to all deputy commissioners on Sunday and staging demonstrations in all district towns and metropolitan cities, except for Dhaka, on Tuesday.

Meanwhile, Khaleda's lawyers are yet to receive the certified copy of the verdict in the Zia Orphanage Trust graft case.

The lawyers will now have to wait till Sunday to have the copy. They neither can file an appeal nor can lodge a bail petition for Khaleda with the High Court without having the copy of the judgment.

BNP Secretary General Mirza Fakhrul Islam Alamgir announced the fresh agitation programmes at a press conference at the party's Nayapaltan central office.

“We want peace, not violence. We also want to create a peaceful atmosphere in the country so that people can exercise their voting rights freely. Keeping that in mind, we are announcing peaceful programmes demanding unconditional release of our leader.”

Fakhrul said the party also wanted to hold a public rally in the capital's Suhrawardy Udyan and it would soon seek permission from the authorities concerned after fixing a date.

The BNP chief landed in jail on February 8 after a special court in Dhaka had sentenced her to five years' imprisonment in the graft case.

Soon after her conviction, the party announced countrywide demonstrations for Friday and Saturday. Later, it staged protests from Monday to Wednesday.

BNP leaders and activists formed a human chain in front of the Jatiya Press Club on Monday, staged a sit-in before the Nayapaltan central office on Tuesday and observed token hunger strikes across the country on Wednesday.

Also yesterday, senior BNP leaders held a meeting with the leaders of pro-BNP professionals' bodies at the party chief's Gulshan office.

Acting chairman of BNP Tarique Rahman addressed the meeting over the phone from the UK, said meeting sources.

Some public university teachers, lawyers and journalists at the meeting made suggestions about the BNP's next course of action.