Banned outfit Hizb ut-Tahrir’s chief coordinator in Bangladesh Mohiuddin Ahmed has been acquitted of charges filed under the Anti-Terrorism Act.
In 2010, police at Dhaka's Uttara filed the case accusing him and five leaders of the Islamist outfit of distributing leaflets furnishing false information.
Apart from Mohiuddun, a Dhaka University Institute of Business Administration teacher, the five others charged by police are Abu Yousuf Ali, Saidur Rahman, Kazi Morshedul Haque, Tanvir Ahmmed and Touhidul Alam.
On Sunday (Mar 24), Dhaka’s Anti-Terror Tribunal Judge Mujibur Rahman delivered its verdict after deferring it for six times.
Mohiuddin and three others — Kazi Morshedul Haque, Tanvir Ahmmed and Abu Yousuf Ali — have been acquitted as the charges against them were not proven beyond doubt, Prosecutor Jahangir Alam told Bangla Tribune.
The court, however, found Saidur Rahman and Touhidul Alam guilty and sentenced them to two years in prison.
They have been also fined by Tk 5,000 each, failing to pay which will cause another three months in jail.
Four years after starting the case, police filed submitted chargesheet in 2014. The court then forwarded the matter to the home ministry as cases under the Anti-terrorism Act require the government's clearance.
In July 2016, the ministry cleared the case and in September the same year, the trial kicked off after Mohiuddin and the five others were indicted in the case.
Bangladesh government banned Hizb ut-Tahrir in 2009 for extremist activities against the state. Over 50 cases have been filed against its leaders and activists since.