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UK-TARIQUE-AL-EXTRADITION
UK AL submits memorandum to May demanding Tarique’s deportation
DHAKA, Oct 18, 2018 (BSS) – Awami League’s (AL) United Kingdom (UK) unit
today submitted a memorandum to British Prime Minister Theresa May demanding
BNP’s “fugitive” acting chairman Tarique Rahman’s expulsion from that country
to be exposed to justice at home.
Dozens of Awami League activists and supporters led by its UK unit UK AL
President Sultan Mahmud Shariff and General Secretary Syed Sazidur Rahman
Faruk marched towards 10 Downing Street, the British premier’s office,
carrying placards demanding Tarique’s extradition.
“A Downing Street official formally received our memorandum and assured us
of conveying their response once it is reviewed by the authorities there,”
Sazidur Rahman Faruk told BSS by phone.
He said the official also assured the delegation of reaching the
memorandum to the British premier and “get back to us with the response”.
Pictures showed the party activists standing on the other side of the
street with placards as the leaders submitted the memo to the British
premier’s office door as the UK authorities is thought to have given Tarique
the asylum status in London.
“We are writing on behalf of the Bangladeshi community living in the UK .
. . we are gravely concerned that the UK Government is currently harboring a
fugitive from his sentence,” the memorandum read.
It said though the UK authorities gave Tarique political refuge
Bangladeshi court evidence now strongly suggested that he was involved in
criminal activities while such evidence was corroborated by US authorities as
well.
“We strongly urge the Prime Minister of the UK to ask for a review of his
Asylum status in light of these convictions at the earliest convenience, so
that justice can be served,” the memo said.
It pointed out that a Dhaka court last week sentenced Tarique to life
imprisonment for masterminding the August 21, 2004 grenade attack while the
High Court earlier in 2016 convicted him in a money laundering case and
sentenced to 7 years imprisonment and fined nearly o2 million.
Moreover, it said, in February 2018, he was convicted in a case of
corruption along with several others, including his mother former prime
minister Begum Khaleda Zia, and was sentenced to 10 years imprisonment and
fined more than o192,000.
The memo referred to a cable sent by the then US ambassador in Dhaka James
F Moriarty to Washington on 3 November 2008 saying that Tarique represents
the symbol of “kleptocratic government and violent politics”.
“His theft of millions of dollars in public money has undermined political
stability in this moderate, Muslim-majority nation and subverted US attempts
to foster a stable democratic government, a key objective in this
strategically important region,” the cable which later made public read.
Moriarty also suggested that Tarique be denied entry to the US for his
links to corruption and terrorism “notorious for flagrantly and frequently
demanding bribes in connection with government procurement actions and
appoints to political office”.
The UK AL memo also pointed out that a Canadian court in January 2017 in a
case ‘Gazi V Minister of Citizenship and Immigration’ accepted evidence
implicating him in terrorist activities.
BSS/PR/SAH/AR/1958 HRS