Tarique acquitted in two sedition cases in Sylhet

A Sylhet court today dismissed two sedition cases against BNP acting chairman Tarique Rahman, acquitting him of the charges.

Sylhet Metropolitan Magistrate Court’s Judge Sagir Ahmed dismissed the cases filed in 2014 by the then Chhatra League leaders, confirmed Sylhet District BNP General Secretary and lawyer Emran Ahmed Chowdhury to The Daily Star.

The court dismissed the cases as they were filed to politically harass Tarique, he added.

On December 22, 2014, two cases were filed against Tarique Rahman with the Sylhet Metropolitan Magistrate Court on charges of sedition.

The cases were filed by M Raihan Ahmed Chowdhury, the former general secretary of the Sylhet District unit of Chhatra League, and Shamim Mollah, the former president of the Sylhet Agricultural University unit of Chhatra League.

According to the case documents, on December 15, 2014, Tarique, while speaking from the UK, made defamatory remarks about Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman.

The court accepted the cases and instructed the police to investigate the matter.

Earlier in the day, the High Court acquitted Tarique, former BNP state minister Lutfozzaman Babar and all other accused in two cases over the August 21, 2004 grenade attack.