Hannan has no right to retract statement
State minister tells journos
Huji chief Mufti Abdul Hannan has no legal right to withdraw his additional confessional statement in the August 21 grenade attack case as he willingly made the statement before a magistrate, State Minister for Law Quamrul Islam said yesterday.
A confessional statement given by any accused before the magistrate cannot be withdrawn under section 164 of the Criminal Procedure Code, the minister pointed out while addressing the press at his secretariat office.
“The papers submitted by Hannan's lawyer before a Dhaka court on Tuesday for withdrawal of his statement is not a petition at all and the court has no scope to pass an order on such papers,” he mentioned.
Harkat-ul-Jihad al-Islami (Huji) chief Hannan gave an additional confessional statement on April 7 disclosing the involvement of Tarique Rahman, senior vice-chairman of BNP; Lutfozzaman Babar, former state minister for home; Harris Chowdhury, former prime minister Khaleda Zia's political secretary; and Jamaat-e-Islami Secretary General Ali Ahsan Mohammad Mojaheed, in the grenade attack.
Following Hannan's prayer, some BNP leaders including its acting Secretary General Mirza Fakhrul Islam Alamgir are making falsehood by saying that Tarique Rahman was not involved in the grenade attack, claimed Quamrul.
He also insisted that the allegation of Tarique's involvement was confirmed following confessional statements of other accused and statements of witnesses.
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