BNP rejects Aug 21 grenade attack case verdict

BNP has rejected the verdicts of the August 21 grenade attack cases, saying they have been given at the 'behest of the government' with a political motive.
 
"BNP thinks that this verdict is politically-motivated. It is a naked manifestation of satisfying the government's political vengeance," BNP Secretary General Mirza Fakhrul Islam Alamgir told a press briefing at the party’s Naya Paltan office, minutes after the verdict was delivered on Wednesday.

Also Read- Aug 21 grenade attack: Babar, 18 others sentenced to death; Tarique gets life

"We reject the verdict," he said, reports UNB.

File photo of Mirza Fakhrul Islam Alamgir Fakhrul also said the government has set another bad example by using the justice system to take political revenge.

As their party’s Senior Vice-Chairman, Tarique Rahman, was given life imprisonment in the cases, Mirza said that that no citizen now has the possibility for obtaining justice.

Also Read- BNP announces 7-day program to protest the August 21 verdict

Earlier in the morning, after a 14-year wait, Dhaka’s First Speedy Trial Tribunal sentenced 19 people to death, and 19 others – including BNP acting Chairman Tarique Rahman – to life imprisonment.

This is regarding two cases filed over the August 21 grenade attack on an Awami League rally in Dhaka in 2004.