Arrest orders against Tarique and Fakhrul

A Dhaka Court on Tuesday issued arrest warrant against Acting General Secretary of BNP Mirza Fakhrul Islam Almagir and Senior Vice-Chairman Tarique Rahman in a defamation case filed against them.

The Court of Metropolitan Magistrate Anwar Sadat passed the arrest orders after the officer-in-charge of Paltan Police Station and the investigation officer (IO) of the case submitted the probe report.

The case was filed against the two BNP leaders by AB Siddique, president of Bangladesh Jananetri Parishad, on September 8 last year on charges of distorting history and calling Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina a leader of black sheep.

The complainant said in his case statement BNP Senior Vice-Chairman Tarique, at a seminar in London on August 24 named the Prime Minister as the leader of black sheep. Before this on September 2 Tarique told in another seminar that Ziaur Rahman was the first president of Bangladesh.

On the other hand, BNP’s acting Secretary General Mirza Fakhrul, at a programme in the party`s Nayapaltan headquarters on September 5 last year, said Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman uttered the words ‘Joy Pakistan’ at the end of his March 7 speech in 1971.