The New Nation - Internet Edition

100 graft convicts named: 41 belong to BNP, 25 to AL : All disqualified for polls

Staff Reporter

Over one hundred persons convicted in different corruption and criminal cases under the state of emergency would not be able to contest the forthcoming general elections scheduled for December 18, sources in the Anti-Corruption Commission said.

According to the sources, most of the convicted persons include former ministers, MPs, political leaders, their family members, businessmen, bureaucrats and trade union leaders.

Informed sources said 98 people were convicted in different cases filed by ACC till August 10. Of them, 41 were from the BNP while 25 from the Awami League.

Four more people including Shahdab Akbar, son of AL leader Sajeda Chowdhury were convicted in corruption cases after August 10.

According to sources about 50 of those political leaders have already been disqualified upon their conviction in different corruption and criminal cases.

According to the section 11(5) of the Emergency Power Rules-2007 that says those convicted during the state of emergency in the trial court for corruption cannot participate in the elections.

The persons who have already been convicted in corruption and criminal cases include former AL MP Shamim Osman, Joynal Hazari, former prime minister's political secretary Hariss Chowdhury, controversial businessman Gias Uddin Al Mamun and his wife, former state minister Aman Ullah Aman and his wife, former state minister Mir Mohammad Nasir Uddin and his son, former BNP MP Abdul Wadud Bhuiyan, former state minister and AL presidium member Mohiuddin Khan Alamgir, Pankaj Debnath of AL and his wife, former BNP minister Brrister Nazmul Huda and his wife Barrister Sigma Huda, Ali Asgar Lobi of BNP, former AL minister Mohammad Nasim and his wife, Majurul Ahsan Munshi of BNP, former BNP state minister Iqbal Hassan Mahmud Tuku, former BTRC Chairman Taimur Alam Khandaker and former BNP state minister Salahuddin Ahmed.

The convicted persons also include former BNP MP Rashiduzzaman Millat, former government secretary ANH Akhter Hossain and his wife, former AL state minister Mofazzal Hossain Chowdhury Maya and his son Dipu Chowdhury, former AL MP Sheikh Helal Uddin and his wife, former AL Chief Whip Abul Hasanat Abdullah, Janakantha Editor Atiqullah Khan Masud and his wife, AL leaders-DR HBM Iqbal and his wife, Mostafa Rashidi Suja and his wife, Haji Selim and his wife, Kazi Zafrullah, Haji Moqbul Hossian and his wife and Mohiudidn Ahmed, BNP leaders former minister Morshed Khan and his son, Shajahan Siraj and his wife, Helaluzzaman Talukder Lalu and his wife, Barrister Shahjahan Omar, Barrister Aminul Haque, Mosaddeque Hossain Falu, Hafiz Ibrahim and his wife, Chowdhury Alam, Ziaul Haque Zia and his wife and Naser Rahman,

Besides, the convicted persons also include former Jamaat MP Shajahan Chowdhury, former IOJ MP Mufti Shahidul Islam, Anwar Hossain Manju of Jaitya Party (JP) and his wife Tasmima Hossain, former PSC member Mahfuzur Rahman, former CCF Osman Gani, former government secretary Ismail Jobiullah, former AIG of police Shahidullah Khan, BMA leader Dr AZM Zahid, CBA leaders BM Bakir Hossain and Firoz Miah.

Meanwhile, the ACC is likely to handover a list of convicted persons to the government within a day or two as the government has asked it to provide the list.

Mohiuddin barred from working as Ctg Mayor

Mohiuddin

Special security measures have been taken around the
Chittagong City Corporation Building yesterday as Mohiuddin
Chowdhury was barred from taking charge as mayor.
FocusBangla

Desk Report

A B M Mohiuddin Chowdhury, just released Mayor of Chittagong, has been barred from working as the mayor of the Chittagong City Corporation by a notification of the Local Government Ministry issued in Dhaka.

The Government action has come in the wake of Mohiuddin's statement that he was still Mayor of Chittagong. He ordered the city administration to stop all payments in connection with development works and held meeting with the councillors. He said, he will not allow any quarter to sell Chittagong Port.

Following his release from BSMMU prison cell the acting mayor Manjurul Alam refrained from attending the mayor's office. His personal secretary was dispossessed of walkie talkie by the Mohiuddin loyalists. The Mohiuddin loyalists virtually took over the city corporation office and kept his opponents at bay.

Mohiuddin Chowdhury could not hold his scheduled meeting with the councillors at the City Corporation Bhaban yesterday following the government restrictions. Local Government Ministry sent a notification to the Chief Executive Officer of CCC on Tuesday night with an edict that the acting mayor, instead of Mohiuddin, is to carry on.

The letter, signed by Senior Assistant Secretary M Delwar Hossain, reads: "As the CCC Mayor is out of jail on bail, so panel mayor (acting Mayor) M Manjur Alam should continue with his mayoral duties."

Mohiuddin, who faces a number of graft cases in the wake of the clean-up drive launched by the interim regime, also had to cancel his scheduled Bangkok trip today to visit his ailing daughter as he did not get Government Order (GO).

Meanwhile, 28 CCC councillors out of 41 protested such decision of the government.

Terming the decision "unlawful", they urged the government to allow him (Mohiuddin) to discharge his duties.

Saying that the order runs counter to the law and Constitution, Mayor Mohiuddin said, "I'm the elected Mayor of 40 lakh people in Chittagong metropolitan area and I got bail through legal process. And my legal right to discharge duties as mayor is protected."

Mohiuddin, also an Awami League leader, was arrested from his Chashma Hill residence in the port city on March 7, 2007 as part of an anti-graft drive by the military-backed interim government. After his arrest, M Manjur Alam was made acting mayor.

He was released from jail on bail on October 8, 2008 after 19 months of detention.

Mohiuddin Chowdhury has enquired in writing to the Local Government Ministry why he has yet to be handed over charge of the mayoral office.

Local Government Adviser Anwarul Iqbal, when contacted for clarification on the matter, said yesterday: "The mayor's letter has been sent to the Law Ministry for their comments. Once the Local Government Ministry receives the Law Ministry's feedback on this, necessary steps will be taken in this regard."

The Adviser pointed out: "The higher court granted bail to the mayor on medical grounds, not to facilitate his taking over the Chittagong Mayor's office again. The next steps in this regard should be taken keeping these considerations in mind."

A senior ministry official told bdnews24.news: "The Chittagong mayor released on bail would like to take back charge of the mayoral office. But the acting mayor isn't obliging him because of some pertinent government restrictions."

The rebuffed mayor wrote to the ministry for an explanation into the situation, the official said.

Mohiuddin was released on bail at BSMMU Hospital on Oct 7, after 19 months in detention.

Arrested on Mar 7 last year, the mayor returned to his home in the port city Tuesday afternoon. He flew in to Chittagong to be met by thousands of Awami League supporters as he reached his Chashma Hill residence.

Speaking to reporters there, he said he intended to go abroad to visit his ailing daughter if the government permits.

He also told reporters, " Awami League should take part in the national election even under emergency."

He claimed the party would be victorious in any election, under emergency "or even under martial law."

He nevertheless urged the withdrawal of emergency for elections, saying: "The people demand it."

"So we hope government shows good sense," added the AL leader. Mohiuddin says, the office of the mayor lies where he stays inside or outside the country.

The Sylhet Mayor Badaruddin Kamran though indicted in a number of corruption charges was allowed to work as Sylhet Mayor. He also won a landslide victory in Sylhet mayoral polls from inside prison. Dhaka Mayor Sadek Hossain Khoka who was enlarged on bail from several corruption cases was allowed to continue his mayoral job.

EU for restoration of political, civic freedom

Staff Reporter

European Union (EU) Ambassador Dr Stefan Frowein yesterday said the EU is yet to take any decision on sending election observers to Bangladesh as they are waiting to get a signal from the government as to whether they are lifting the state of emergency in full or how far it is being relaxed to meet the conditions for free and fair elections.

He said this at a press meet with the members of Diplomatic Correspondents Association Bangladesh (DCAB) at Lakeshore hotel in the city.

Replying to a question Stefan Frowein, who is also the Head of the Delegation of European Commission, made it clear that the EU would not send election observers to Bangladesh in any situation.

"We (observers) will not come anyway. We want to come and will come when conditions are right," he said adding, "We are waiting for government decision on the state of emergency as we want restoration of civil and political freedoms to enable the EU to send its observers to Bangladesh."

Asked if the elections could not be held on December 18 and army takes over, Stefan Frowein said the EU would not support any coup or military rule.

Referring to the Chief Adviser's address to the nation where he stated that the government would lift the state of emergency or relax it as soon as possible, the EU diplomat said they want to know how far the emergency rules would be relaxed.

He observed that if full lifting of the emergency were not possible, it would be tough to the government to create a conducive climate for holding the forthcoming polls in a free, fair and credible manner.

The EU Ambassador said on principle the EU does not send its observers to observe elections to any country where state of emergency is in place as the emergency denies people scope for voting freely.

He, however, observed the state of emergency in Bangladesh is not like the state of emergency in Pakistan and other countries. "It is a different emergency. Here emergency is formally in place but with some relaxations that already exist," he added.

Asked when the EC will take its decision as to whether or not to send the election observers, he said in next 2-3 weeks.

Stefan Frowein explained that the EU has three components, including selecting a chief observer, a 10-member technical team and a 40-member delegation, who go to any country at least four weeks before the election.

There will be short-term 100 observers who will come 4-5 days ahead of the election. The EU observers will examine the climate before the elections, during the elections and after the elections and issue a statement on the fairness of the vote at the end of the day, he said.

He said the EU needs adequate time to organise the full Election Observation Mission. He did not say the cut-off date for sending the observers but said it would be convenient for them to take the decision by end of October or early November.

Asked what would be the credibility of the elections if not observed by the EU, the Ambassador said the credibility of the elections would be less in a sense that people would question as to why the EU could not observe the polls.

Dr Frowein welcomed the government move for continuing dialogue with political parties and congratulated the Election Commission (EC) for accepting most of 50 recommendations from the EU after cancellation of the last general election.

DCAB president Masud Karim presided over the briefing and general secretary Raheed Eajaj made the welcome address.

Earlier, the Ambassador made a statement on European Security and Defence System and EC Political and Press Councilor Charles Whiteley made a video presentation on it.

Govt withdraws appeals against Hasina’s case stay

UNB, Dhaka

The Supreme Court yesterday disposed of a pending Anti-Corruption Commission petition for vacating High Court orders extending stay on the trial proceedings of Niko and Barge-mounted power-plant graft cases against ex-Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina.

A regular bench of the Appellate Division headed by Chief Justice MM Ruhul Amin passed the order as Attorney General (AG) Salah Uddin Ahmed, the counsel for the ACC, moved a new petition intending not to press the vacation petition.

The AG moved the petition as the High Court Tuesday set October 19 for analogous hearing of rules on quashing petitions filed against the Niko and Barge-mounted power-plant graft cases by the former Prime Minister and Awami League chief, Sheikh Hasina, now abroad on parole for treatment of her eyes and ears.

On August 27, the HC, following petition, extended the stay up to October 14.

On July 7, the High Court stayed for two months the proceedings of the Niko and the Barge-mounted power-plant graft cases following Hasina's separate quashing petitions. The HC had also issued separate rules asking the ACC to explain why the two cases "should not be quashed".

Both the cases are now pending with the special courts set up at the parliament complex that deals with high-profile corruption cases following the 1/11 change of guards in state power.

Meanwhile, Barrister Shafique Ahmed, the counsel for Hasina, Wednesday moved an application to the bench of Justice M Anwarul Haque and Justice Farah Mahbub seeking further extension of stay operation of the trial-court proceedings on the duo-cases as the stay expired.

Barrister Shafique also prayed for extension of an October 5 HC order that had asked the law to refrain from arresting or harassing Hasina at home and abroad until October 20, abstaining from granting bail in the cases.

The prayers may come up for hearing tomorrow (Thursday), court sources said.

On September 2 last year, the ACC filed the Barge-mounted power-plant case with Tejgaon police station against Hasina and several others, amid a crackdown in the interim period on former ruling politicians.

It complained that the ex-PM and other accused through mutual understanding and use of influence had helped a foreign company and its local partners win a deal for setting up a barge-mounted 100MW power plant in Khulna, depriving the lowest bidder.

On December 9 last year, the ACC filed the Niko scam case with the Tejgaon police station. According to the charge sheet, the accused in collusion with one another awarded gas-extraction work in Chhatak, Kamta and Feni gas fields to Niko Resources Ltd., a Canadian company, "to gain personal financial benefit that caused a loss of Tk 13,630.50 crore to the state exchequer".

Police refused permission to raid RU hall

RU Correspondent

The Police bid to raid the Islamic Chhatra Shibir dominated 'Sheikh Mujib Hall' of the Rajshahi University on Wednesday night to recover arms fell through as they were denied permission by the hall authorities to enter into the hall.

Campus sources said that four platoons of police led by assistant commissioner Jahangir Hossain took position in front of Sheikh Mujib hall of the university on the basis of information that some outsiders were staying at the hall with arms.

The police sought permission from the hall provost Prof. Nurul Islam and university proctor Enamul Haque separately to raid the hall, but they did not get permission .Later the police left the campus.

Several students of the hall alleged that some outsiders led by hall Shibir president Shahneazur Rahman were staying at different rooms of the hall with arms.

Prof Nurul Islam, reportedly a pro-Jamaat teacher and provost of Sheikh Mujib Hall, told the New Nation that he personally assessed the situation in the hall with the help of hall employees and found nothing unusual. So he opposed the police bid to raid the hall. The proctor of the hall spoke in the same vein.

Bangladesh Chhatra League (BCL), Progressive Students Alliance and several other student organisations strongly protested the denial of the police raid by hall authorities.

BCL RU unit president Ibrahim Hossain Moon alleged that after the recent clash between the activists of BCL and Shibir at the Jagannath University in Dhaka, Shibir RU unit increased their strength and brought many outsiders with arms on the campus.

On Wednesday morning, Shibir of RU unit staged showdown with many outsiders on the campus, sources added

RU acting vice-chancellor Prof Mamnunul Keramat, however, told reporters he was not aware of the police bid to raid the hall on Wednesday night.

Brown meets Iftekhar: UK seeks polls under normal laws

Staff Reporter

United Kingdom yesterday called upon the interim government of Bangladesh to lift the state of emergency ahead of elections in December designed to restore democracy to the country.

Visiting UK minister of state for Asia, Africa and the United Nations, Mark Malloch Brown, told Foreign Adviser Dr Iftekhar Ahmed that London wanted the polls to be "held in conditions which allow free and fair vote".

"When I say the elections should be free and fair and legitimate, I think that as much as possible they should take place not under emergency laws but under the regular constitutional arrangements," he said.

After meeting foreign adviser Iftekhar Ahmed Chowdhury at the foreign ministry, he also told reporters that his country was counting down to the exit of the caretaker government and Bangladesh's return to democracy.

"Our message: we are on the side of [the elections] being as much as possible free and fair, with as little emergency legislation as possible," he said.

"But there are some law and order issues that the government is very concerned about and we will have to see whether or not they are able to remove all of the legislation or leave at least some small part in place," said Lord Brown.

"We think the caretaker government played a very important role … it is time now for Bangladeshi democracy again and people to choose their own government," he added.

He said Britain could not dictate what Bangladesh should do, and stressed that the government, the political parties and the Election Commission should negotiate to resolve differences.

Foreign adviser Iftekhar Ahmed told reporters: "We discussed the political developments in Bangladesh leading to the election scheduled for 18th December".

"I apprised [the minister] of the government's determination that the elections be free, fair and credible, and that we are able to demonstrate once again what is now generally acknowledged, that Bangladesh is the most peaceful country in the region".

Lord Brown arrived in Dhaka on a two-day visit yesterday morning. Before talking to the Foreign Adviser he met with home affairs adviser MA Matin and is later scheduled to have talks with chief adviser Fakhruddin Ahmed.

The chief adviser in a September address to the nation announced general elections would be held under a relaxed state of emergency, rather than a total withdrawal.

Political parties have been demanding a total lifting of emergency for holding of the ninth parliamentary polls, with major party BNP along with its political allies refusing to register before an accord is reached with the government on the issue.

Lord Brown, former deputy secretary general of the United Nations, is also to meet a range of civil society figures as well as Bangladeshi members of UN peacekeeping forces and hold a roundtable discussion with human rights defenders.

AL submits party constitution to EC for registration

Staff Reporter

Awami League (AL) yesterday submitted application to get registered with the Election Commission (EC) and demanded to scrap the EC's authority to cancel candidature in parliamentary poll. It suggested to hold another round of talks with the EC regarding the issue.

An AL delegation led by the party's office secretary Advocate Abdul Mannan Khan and deputy office secretary BM Mozammel Haque submitted the application to the EC along with the amended party constitution.

Jasmine Tuli, Deputy Secretary to the EC Secretariat, received the application shortly before 3 pm. Earlier Syed Ashraful Islam in the morning scrutinised all the necessary papers for registration in the Dhanmondi office and then he submitted those papers to the AL Acting president Zillur Rahman in Gulshan for his signature.

Abdul Mannan said, "We have submitted the application along with the party constitution, including the draft amendments, and other necessary documents in line with new electoral law."

The EC welcomed the AL's application for registration, along with a draft of its amended constitution.

Election Commissioner M Sakhawat Hussain said the application for registration by AL was very inspirable.

"We are really happy that AL has applied for registration. We hope that BNP and other political parties will apply before the deadline," he noted.

About the much talked issue of retaining associate organisations, Sakhawat said that the EC did not have any problem with associated organisations, if the party wanted get registered by hiding its associated organisations in the party constitution.

Awami League Central Working Committee (ALCWC) approved amendments to its constitution on October 13 keeping associate organisations and foreign chapter.

According to the amendments of the party, the associate organisations will run according to their own constitution and AL's central working committee will have no control in running them and the overseas units will be run according to rules and regulations the host countries.

Registration with EC only after consensus with Govt: Delwar

Staff Reporter

BNP Secretary General Khondoker Delwar Hossain yesterday said his party would not decide on registration with the Election Commission (EC) until they reach a consensus on contentious political issues with the government.

"We would not get registered with EC until and unless we reach an agreement with the government," he told reporters at his NAM flat.

He, however, hoped that the government would again sit with the BNP for dialogue before the expiry of the extended deadline on October 20 for registration with EC.

Earlier, the EC had set the deadline for registration on October 15 and later extended it to October 20 following the demand of BNP and Jamaat-e- Islami Bangladesh.

The EC made it mandatory for political parties to get registered to contest the next parliamentary elections scheduled for December 18.

The BNP on Tuesday held dialogue with the government and placed a seven-point demand. The demands include lifting the state of emergency, deferment of

Upazila polls and withdrawal of cases against party leaders and activists.

But so far the meeting remained inconclusive as both sides could not reach consensus on issues raised by BNP.

The BNP wants to hold a second dialogue soon with the government to settle all the unresolved issues before registration.

"We'll move for the registration after the dialogue with the government within October 20," Delwar added.

The date for next round of dialogue is yet to be set.

Attaining food sovereignty a must

Staff Reporter

Speakers at a seminar called upon the leaders of South Asian countries to formulate a concrete policy to ensure food security in the region.

They made their call at a seminar on "Food Security on the basis of food sovereignty" at the National Press Club yesterday. The Media Foundation for Trade and Development (MFTD) and Equity and Justice Working Group (EJWG) jointly organised the seminar. Md Shamsudduha of EJWG presented the keynote paper while Swapan Guha of the same organisation presided over the seminar.

In his keynote paper, Md Shamsudduha said that the SAARC countries would have to adopt a long-term strategic plan for SAARC food bank to ensure food sovereignty in the region. "For it the SAARC countries can extend cooperation in agricultural sector. Besides they should increase subsidy in this sector," he suggested.

He laid stresson strengthening the Bangladesh Agriculture Development Corporation (BADC) for proper preservation and distribution of seeds and other agricultural inputs to farmers.

Awami League (AL) Agriculture Affairs Secretary Dr Abdur Razzaqe said that the SAARC food bank should start food procurement on a width scale immediately to ensure food security in the region.

"The food sovereignty may suffer setback in Bangladesh due to dependency on import of foodgrains," he noted.

He called upon the Caretaker Government to chalk out a proper land use policy for saving the cultivable lands.

"We have been facing food crisis every year as we have failed to utilise our lands properly," he said and demanded increase allocation of fund for research activities in agriculture sector.

Shamsuzzaman Dudu, Agricultural Affairs Secretary of BNP called for strengthening BADC to ensure supply of the seeds, fertilisers and water to the farmers on time.

Golam Habib Dulal, former MP, former Ambassador of Bangladesh Dr Waliur Rahman, Rokeya Kabir, an NGO activist, Farhan Jahan of Action Aid, among others, addressed at the seminar.

DSE, CSE witness sharp fall

Staff Reporter

Country's two stock exchanges- Dhaka Stock Exchange and Chittagong Stock Exchange, witnessed sharp fall yesterday after gaining for the last two consecutive days.

The DSE All Shares Price Index (DASPI) shed 4 points or 0.20 per cent to close at 2,426 points while the CSE All Share Price Index (CASPI) shed 0.37 per cent to close at 9039.50 points. The DSE-20 index of selective shares, however, increased by 10 points or 0.42 per cent to close at 2,500 points while the CSE-30 Index decreased by 0.31 per cent to close at 7896.61 points.

The DSE General Index (DGEN) fell slowly immediately after rising little bit in the opening session of the day's trading and shed 5 points or 0.18 per cent to close at 2,926 points from 2,931 points.

The share prices dropped across the board with 155, out of 237 issues traded on the day registering losses while 76 gained and only six remained unchanged.

The day's total turnover declined to Tk 5.11 billion from Tk 5.42 billion on Tuesday while the Market Capitalisation fell to Tk 1.018 trillion from Tk 1.020 trillion.

Titas Gas, Beximco Pharma, BEXIMCO, Square Pharma, ACI, Lanka Bangla Finance, BD Online, AIMS 1st Mutual Fund, Summit Power and Goldenson were the day's turnover leaders in terms of value.

Top gainers of the day were Shinepukur, Beximco Fisheries, Beximco

Synthetics, BD Online, Miracle Industries, Gulf Food, BD Thai, Goldenson, Sajib Knit and Olympic.

Top losers were City General Insurance, Janata Insurance, All Tex, Modern Industries, Apex Weaving, Mona Food, Saiham Textiles, Style Crafts, Meghna Cement and Meghna Pet.

The trading at CSE closed lower yesterday with the losers strongly dominating the gainers.

A total of 147 issues were traded yesterday, of which 36 gained, 107 declined and only four remained unchanged.

Some 6,643,986 shares and debentures worth Tk 81.24 crore changed hands in the day trading.

Call to recover embezzled Viqarunnisa fund

Staff Reporter

Teachers, students and guardians' representatives of Viqarunnisa Noon School and College demanded implementation of the court verdict for realising Tk 6 crore which was transferred to Viqarunnisa Universtiy Foundation fund from Viqarunnisa Noon School and College fund.

They also called upon the concerned authorities to take action against those involved in irregularities in running the affairs of renowned educational institution.

Rokeya Akhter Begum, Principal of Viqarunnisa Noon School and College voiced the demand of the teachers,students and guardians representatives at a press conference at the auditorium of the main campus of the Viqarunnisa School and College at Baily road in the city yesterday.

It was also attended ,among others, by Md Shah Alam Khan, a senior teacher and Hasina Begum, Assistant Professor.

Earlier on Monday, a Dhaka court in a verdict of a law ordered former Awami League (AL) lawmaker and ex-chairman of Viqarunnisa University Foundation HBM Iqbal and seven others to pay the said amount to Viqarunnisa Noon School and College by October 31.

On April 10, 2004, acting principal of Viqarunnisa Noon School and College Royena Hossain filed the law suit with the District and Session's Judge's Court of Dhaka for the return of the Tk 6 crore.

The other defendants of the law suit are Abdus Sattar, representative of Viqaruunisa Foundation, former principle of Viqarunnisa School and College Hamida Ali,Humayun Kabir Khan, AKM Firoz, Engineer Motiur Rahman, Rakibu Hossain Rumi and Engineer Prasanta Kumar Biswas.

All the defenders are ex members of the board of directors of Viqarunnisa School and College. Another defendant is Premier Bank, Gulshan Branch.

All the defenders are ex members of the board of directors of Viqarunnisa School and College. Another defendant is Premier Bank, Gulshan Branch.

Special Joint District Judge Foujul Azim of the Environment Court delivered the judgement.

In the verdict the Judge said if they fail to pay the money, defendant Premier Bank, Gulshan branch will transfer the decreed money to the plaintiffs from the account of Abdus Sattar between November 1 and 15.