The Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP) has announced a plan to hold countrywide protests on Friday. However, its leaders indicated that they won’t be violent.
BNP secretary-general Mirza Fakhrul Islam Alamgir said the graft case against Khaleda Zia, who was given a five-year sentence on Thursday, was “influenced by political vengeance”. He also accused the government of Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina of trying “to keep the BNP out of politics”.
“They have already detained more than 3,000 of our activists and leaders from various parts of the country,” he said.
However, the ruling Awami League leaders said the verdict represented a milestone in establishing rule of law in the country.
Earlier, as Ms. Zia was escorted from her home to the court in a motorcade, clashes broke out between police and BNP activists at the Kakrail area. The police had to use tear gas shells to disperse the protesters.
Meanwhile, reports said that about 100 activists from the party attacked the Bangladesh High Commission in London, forcefully entered it and vandalised property.
In the 35 years of political career, Ms. Zia has been detained several times but not convicted by any court. She faces a total of 37 cases while charge sheets have been submitted in 17 of them. After skipping hearings some 143 times over the past six years, Ms. Zia finally appeared before the court on October 19, 2017, and obtained bail.
