Police yesterday submitted a charge-sheet against four people, including Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP) leader Tarique Rahman and former ETV chairman Abdus Salam, in a sedition case filed in 2015.
Detective Branch inspector Imdadul Haque, also the investigation officer of the case, submitted charge-sheet before the Dhaka chief metropolitan magistrate’s court.
The court fixed September 29 to make a decision whether the charges brought against the four accused will be accepted or not.
The two other accused are Mahathir Farooki Khan, the then chief reporter of ETV and Kanak Sarwar, the then special correspondent of the private TV channel.
Tarique, Mahathir Farooki Khan and Kanak Sarwar have been shown as fugitives in the charge-sheet while Abdus Salam is now in jail.
The investigation officer of the case made a plea to the court to issue a warrant for the arrest of three absconding
accused, including Tarique.
On January 8, 2015, the treason case was filed with Tejgaon police station over the live telecast of a provocative speech by Tarique at a programme in London on January 5.
According to the case statement, Tarique instigated his party men by delivering ‘provocative’ speech against law enforcers which led to anarchy in the country at that time.
Salam committed the same offence by broadcasting Tarique’s ‘provocative’ speech, which also posed a threat to the sovereignty of Bangladesh.
Salam, who was arrested on January 6, in a statement before a magistrate confessed to sedition charges brought against him.
Tarique, BNP chairperson Khaleda Zia’s eldest son, has been in London since September 11, 2008 on medical grounds after securing parole in various cases.