Three former chief election commissioners, who oversaw the 10th, 11th, and 12th Jatiya Sangsad elections are now facing new charges including that of criminal conspiracy.
Charges of fraud and embezzlement have been added to an ongoing legal case filed by a BNP leader against 24 individuals, including three former CECs and former Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina.
The case accuses them of conducting the controversial elections without public participation, violating constitutional duties, and using threats to suppress opposition.
A Dhaka magistrate court on Wednesday accepted the petition filed by the investigation officer from Sher-e-Bangla Nagar police station to include the new charges under sections 120(b), 420, and 406 of the Penal Code.
The accused include former CECs Kazi Rakibuddin Ahmad, KM Nurul Huda, and Kazi Habibul Awal, as well as former police chiefs and other senior election officials. Some, including Nurul Huda and Habibul Awal, have already been arrested.
Meanwhile, during the remand hearing, former CEC Kazi Habibul Awal told a Dhaka court on Thursday that the 2024 general election was a “dummy” exercise, nothing more than a political farce.
“It was a mock election. There was no real political competition due to the lack of consensus among parties,” he added.
In a case filed by the BNP, allegations of treason, fraud, and embezzlement have been brought against them, accusing the Election Commission of failing to fulfil its constitutional responsibilities.
A total of 24 individuals have been named as accused in the case, including three CECs and other election commissioners who served during the 10th, 11th, and 12th national parliamentary elections, as well as former Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina.
On Wednesday, the investigating officer of the case, Sher-e-Bangla Nagar Police Station’s Sub-Inspector Shamsuzzoha Sarkar, submitted a petition to add charges under Sections 120(b), 420, and 406 of the Penal Code.
Following a hearing, Dhaka Metropolitan Magistrate Md. Minhajur Rahman granted the petition. Prosecution police officer SI Rafiqul Islam provided this information on Thursday.
Salah Uddin Khan, a member of the BNP’s National Executive Committee and the coordinator for cases, disappearances, murders, and information preservation, filed the case on June 22.
The accused in the case include former CEC Kazi Rakibuddin Ahmad from the 2014 election, former CEC A. K. M. Nurul Huda from the 2018 election, and former CEC Kazi Habibul Awal from the 2024 election, along with the election commissioners who served during their respective terms.
KM Nurul Huda and Kazi Habibul Awal have already been arrested in connection with the case.
Besides former Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina, former Inspectors General of Police (IGP) Hasan Mahmud Khandaker, A. K. M. Shahidul Haque, Javed Patwary, Benazir Ahmed, and Chowdhury Abdullah Al-Mamun have also been named as accused.
The case alleges that during these three elections, BNP leaders and activists were subjected to mass arrests and were kept away from the election process through threats involving so-called “ghost cases,” abductions, enforced disappearances, murders, and torture.