[ALOCHONA] Ershad Cleared of 1982 Powergrab: Another Surprise from the Mohajot

After the Pilkhana Massacre, one more surprise from the BAL government? What else is waiting for us?
Also see the 'Vondami' of so-called Bamponthi Hasanul Huq Inu.

Ershad cleared of 1982 'powergrab'     Mon, Mar 30th, 2009 10:55 pm BdST

Dhaka Mar 30 (bdnews24.com)—Nineteen years after Gen H M Ershad was sued for usurping state power, the former military dictator was cleared of charges Monday. A court accepted the 'final' report from CID SP, Mansur Ali Mandol, that acquitted the former former army chief-turned-president of the charges brought by JSD leader Hasanul Huq Inu. Inu, now an MP as part of the same AL-led electoral alliance as Ershad's Jatiya Party, sued the former general for his Mar 24, 1982 takeover of state power, suspension of the constitution and declaration of martial law in Bangladesh. Inu also alleged in his case statement—filed on Dec 12, 1990, days after the dictator was deposed in a mass upsurge on Dec 6—that the general also organised farcical elections in 1984 and 1988 and had the results declared in his favour. Inu alleged Ershad, then chief of army staff and a three-star general, had forced then the elected president Abdus Sattar to sign a letter of resignation. The CID final report was submitted to a Dhaka Metropolitan magistrate's court on Jan 30. Inu was asked to appear in the court on Monday to respond to the police report but did not. The court accepted the report and cleared Ershad. The report said there was no "documented evidence" available to substantiate the charges. Ershad declared himself chief martial law administrator and appointed a former Supreme Court judge, Ahsanuddin Chowdhury, president. Later in 1983, through a martial law order, he handed himself the presidency and ruled Bangladesh for nearly nine years. The seventh amendment to the constitution gave legitimacy to all his actions as CMLA, but questions remained about the moral legitimacy of his role as head of state or government. Both the major political parties in Bangladesh-- AL and BNP--waged a campaign together almost throughout his reign to oust the general. In the post-1990 politics, both parties have also sought to win him as ally. In 2006, Ershad almost joined a BNP-led alliance but backed out later to be part of an AL-led combine that was to fight the scrapped elections in early 2007. Two years and an emergency government later, the deposed president's party, in partnership with the Awami League, won 29 seats, including his own three. The Jatiya Party now shares state power with the ruling AL.

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