HC acquits all convicted over attempt to murder Hasina in 1994
Court Correspondent
The High Court (HC) on Wednesday acquitted all BNP-linked political activists, including nine death row convicts and 25 sentenced to life in prison, in a case filed over an attempt to kill now ousted prime minister Sheikh Hasina in 1994.
The bench of Justice Muhammad Mahbub Ul Islam and Justice Md Hamidur passed the acquittal order following an appeal filed by the defendants.
In September 1994, some miscreants used firearms and explosives to attack the train carrying then opposition leader Hasina at the Ishwardi railway station in Pabna as she was on her way to join an Awami League programme in Syedpur, Nilphamari.
The local police filed a case promptly against seven people involved in BNP politics, but reportedly could not find any witness when submitting the charge sheet papers next year. A BNP-led government was then in power.
On 3 July 2019, a Pabna court handed down capital punishments against 47 members of BNP and its affiliated bodies over the incident. Nine members were sentenced to death, 25 given lifelong imprisonment and 10 others got ten years in jail.
On Wednesday, the High Court observed that the trial process was “politically motivated, exaggerated and inhuman.”
