Coco judgement will be fought 'politically'

Dhaka, June 23 (bdnews24.com)?The jail sentence to Arafat Rahman Coco will be tackled politically, says his counsel after the BNP said it will wage a legal battle.

Protesting the verdict, lawyer Sanaullah Mia, also a BNP leader, on Thursday said Coco was jailed for six years and fined Tk 190.41 million for laundering money by a judge backed by the ruling Awami League.

Asked if they would appeal the verdict, Sanaullah said: "We'll fight the verdict politically."

BNP acting secretary-general Mirza Fakhrul Islam Alamgir earlier in the day said the verdict was stage-managed and that they would fight the verdict in the court.

Pro-opposition and ruling Awami League-backed lawyers brought out processions in the court arena protesting against and hailing the judgement, respectively.

The BNP lawyers also tried to enter the court room and on being obstructed they scuffled with the lawmen. Police reportedly charged batons on them.

They chanted slogans against judge Mohammad Mozammel Hossain of the Dhaka's Third Special Judge's Court labelling him as a government collaborator. They also staged a rally at the Dhaka Lawyers' Association office.

In protest at the verdict and 'atrocities' by police, the pro-BNP lawyers declared demonstrations on Sunday.

Public prosecutor Mosharraf Hossain Kajol expressed satisfaction over the verdict and said it was handed down in line with the law.

Meanwhile, counsel of the Anti-Corruption Commission and the plaintiff in the case, Anisul Huq said there was no government influence on the verdict.

Coco and Ismail Hossain Simon, son of former BNP shipping minister late Akbar Hossain, both received the same punishment for taking bribes from China Harbour Engineering Company Ltd and Siemens AG for helping them bag government contracts.

China Harbour got a Tk 3.51 billion contract to set up New Mooring Container Terminal and Siemens a Tk 2.39 billion deal to supply and install equipment for Teletalk, the state-owned cell phone operator.

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