Court Correspondent :
The government has suspended the prison term of Dr Zubaida Rahman, wife of BNP Acting Chairman Tarique Rahman, for one year, on the condition that she will file an appeal in the case upon surrender.
A circular issued by the Home Ministry on Wednesday said the decision has been taken following Section 401 (1) of the Code of Criminal Procedure. The move follows an application from Zubaida Rahman seeking the suspension of her sentence, with approval from the Law Ministry.
In August last year, a Dhaka court sentenced Zubaida Rahman to three years in prison, and Tarique Rahman to nine years, in a graft case filed by the Anti-Corruption Commission (ACC) in 2007. The court delivered the sentence in their absence.
The case, filed on September 26 of 2007, with Kafrul Police Station, also accused Dr Zubaida’s mother, Syeda Iqbal Mand Banu. The charges involved accumulation of TK 4.82 crore in assets through illegal means and concealing information of wealth worth TK 2.16 crore in wealth statements.