By IANS
Dhaka : Bangladesh politicians have borne the brunt of the country’s caretaker government’s drive against crime and corruption, a newspaper report alleged Sunday.
At least 234 people, including 214 political leaders, have so far been sentenced to varying terms of imprisonment in the drive by the military-controlled interim government, the New Age newspaper said, citing official statistics on completion of the government’s one year in office.
The caretaker government headed by Chief Advisor Fakhruddin Ahmed took office on Jan 11, 2007, after general elections were called off and a state of emergency declared.
Political activity has since been banned. Political parties have been clamouring for early elections, but the government says it will hold them only this year-end.
The report appeared on the day Ahmed said in a nationwide broadcast that he contemplated allowing the political parties to function indoors.
He said he would like to gradually relax the state of emergency depending on “needs and circumstances”.
The year-long drive by the government, carried out by teams led by army personnel, has landed former prime ministers Sheikh Hasina and Khaleda Zia in jail on charges of corruption and misuse of office.
Both Zia’s sons are jail for graft, and so is Hasina’s cousin Sheikh Salim. Hasina’s younger sister Rehana, who lives in Britain, has also been implicated.
At least 125 politicians, including some who have been convicted, are now detained, while at least 46 politicians and over 50 members of politicians’ families are on the run from different cases filed after the declaration of the state of emergency.
The 214 convicted political leaders include two former ministers of Hasina’s Awami League (AL), nine former ministers of Zia’s Bangladesh Nationalist Party, a former Jatiya Party (BNP) minister, a former chief whip, a city mayor, two former AL lawmakers and 10 former BNP lawmakers, besides a number of civic leaders and party activists, the newspaper said.
The Anti-Corruption Commission has so far notified 256 people, asking for their wealth statement, and has sued 148, mostly politicians, for amassing wealth beyond their known sources of income and concealing assets in their wealth statements, the report said.