Awami League General Secretary Obaidul Quader has said he strongly condemned BNP Secretary General Mirza Fakhrul Islam Alamgir's statement regarding the High Court upholding the imprisonment of two BNP leaders in a graft case.

"The statement made by Mirza Fakhrul terming the High Court verdict a 'favoured judgement' is an insult to the country's law and judiciary," he said in a statement issued by the Awami League on Wednesday (31 May).

On 30 May, the High Court upheld the nine-year sentence of BNP leader Iqbal Hasan Mahmud Tuku and the 13-year sentence of another BNP leader Aman Ullah Aman in two separate cases filed by the Anti-Corruption Commission (ACC) on charges of acquiring wealth beyond known source of income.

The statement further said, Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina and the Awami League have no connection with the corruption case of the two convicted BNP leaders.

In 2007, during the then caretaker government, the ACC filed a case against the two BNP leaders on allegations of corruption and after it was proven, the lower court handed down a punitive verdict. After nearly 16 years of judicial process, the court sentenced them, it said.

"Since the announcement of the new US visa policy, the BNP has been indulging in various forms of propaganda against the government hoping to gain favours from their foreign masters. Calling the High Court judgement "favoured" is part of their ongoing conspiracy. They will soon be held accountable to the people for such offences," he added.