Ershad 'missing' after court sentence
Dec 18, 2006 - 10:08:17 PM
, Reviewed by: Priya Saxena
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A court arrested Ershad years ago for squandering state funds in a deal to buy patrol boats from Japan while he was president from 1982 to 1990.
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By RxPG News Service,
[RxPG] Dhaka, Dec 18 - Fearing arrest after a court confirmed a two-year jail sentence against him on corruption charges, former Bangladesh president Hossain Mohammad Ershad has gone into hiding, media reports said Monday.
Ershad, 77, has alleged that his conviction is politically motivated and meant to debar him from contesting and campaigning in the general elections next month.
Four corruption cases against him were disposed of earlier this year when he had sought to join the political alliance led by then prime minister Khaleda Zia. He had not concealed his aim then, making it clear that he was growing old and wanted to be free from prolonged litigation.
Ershad has since sought to change his alliance and is seeking to join the rival 14-party alliance led by Sheikh Hasina of Awami League. But before he could make a formal announcement, his conviction in a fifth corruption case, pertaining to purchase of boats from Japan while he was in office, was confirmed.
Hasina has alleged that the conviction was 'remote controlled', an obvious reference to Zia and the bureaucracy supposed to be loyal to her.
A telephonic speech of Ershad was relayed through loudspeakers at two Rangpur rallies on Sunday in which he informed the audience that he had decided to forge alliance with the 14-party combine.
'He - has remained unreachable since Sunday morning,' his brother G.M. Quader, a former lawmaker and senior leader of Ershad's Jatiya Party, told the Daily Star.
There were conflicting reports about his whereabouts, apparently meant to keep the authorities and the media off the scent.
Senior leaders were also in the dark about his whereabouts but admitted that the former military ruler came under threat as soon as he made know his decision to join the Awami-led alliance.
Another party leader Kazi Zafar Ahmed, a former prime minister, said Ershad was in a hospital in his hometown Rangpur in northern Bangladesh 'for rest and medical check ups'.
Hospital officials told reporters that Ershad had not been admitted. Kazi Feroze Rashaid, another leader of Jatiya Party, said: 'Our chairman is at his home, taking a rest.' Police declined to comment.
A court arrested Ershad years ago for squandering state funds in a deal to buy patrol boats from Japan while he was president from 1982 to 1990.
The high court confirmed his sentence suddenly Thursday, as the retired general was planning to conclude a deal to support the Awami League alliance. Ershad will not be able to contest the Jan 23 election unless the Supreme Court overturns the high court ruling, legal officials said.
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