Dhaka: Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP) on Friday voiced dissatisfaction over a tribunal’s verdict punishing a lawyer in a case filed in connection with the leakage of the draft judgement of the International Crimes Tribunal-1 on executed war criminal Salauddin Quader Chowdhury.

‘Our barrister Fakhrul Islam was sentenced to 10 years jail in an ICT case. What was his offence? Was it for speaking the truth as he presented some documents and papers?’ he said.

Fakhrul came up with the reaction to the verdict while talking to reporters at his Uttara residence, reports UNB.

The BNP leader said the country’s people have now no right of freedom of expression as 35 online news portals have been shut down.

He said even journalists now cannot write freely fearing reprisal by the government. ‘We know you (journalists) have to think twice now before writing a sentence or a word whether it’ll invite any trouble for you. This is the fact now.’

On Thursday, the Cyber Tribunal convicted and handed down different jail terms to five people, including Salauddin Quader‘s lawyer Fakhrul Islam, for their involvement in leaking the war crimes tribunal's draft verdict in 2013.

The court, however, acquitted the war criminal’s wife and son as the prosecution failed to prove their involvement in ‘hatching conspiracy and instigating’ the leak.

Fakhrul said sedition cases are being filed against opposition leaders and activists without proper ground.

Referring to an Indian Supreme Court verdict on treason charges, he said the government in the neighbouring country had filed a sedition case against some students of Jawaharlal Nehru University for raising slogans on Kashmir. ‘The Indian Supreme Court delivered a verdict that it can’t be considered seditious if any one speaks up about anything.’

Apparently pointing at the sedition case against BNP Chairperson Khaleda Zia for raising the exact number of freedom fighters, Fakhrul said treason charges were brought against her for only asking a question.