Shawdesh dEsk:

Foreign minister Hasan Mahmud on Wednesday said that the government would do everything possible at an appropriate time to implement the court verdict against convicted Bangladesh Nationalist Party acting chairman Tarique Rahman now living in the United Kingdom.

‘Our government wants to make sure that every convicted person’s verdict is implemented. The government will do everything possible at an appropriate time regarding Tarique Rahman’s issue,’ he told reporters at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

The foreign minister made the remarks when a reporter wanted to know about the efforts to bring back Tarique, acting chairman of BNP, for implementation of the court verdict.

He spoke with the reporters after a meeting with British high commissioner to Bangladesh Sarah Cooke at his office where they discussed ways of strengthening cooperation between the two countries.

The government has been trying to bring back the BNP’s convicted acting chairman Tarique to implement the court verdict, but it all depends on the UK government.

‘He is in the UK. Whoever a criminal is, they should be brought back and their sentence should be carried out. We are making our efforts in this regard. But now it totally depends on the British government. Will they keep him there or allow the punishment to be executed? It totally depends on them,’ prime minister Sheikh Hasina told Voice of America Bangla service in an interview in Washington last year.

There are a number of cases including money laundering, arms smuggling, corruption and also the 21 August grenade attack against him.

Responding to a question, the foreign minister said he laid emphasis on making the process easier as many face problems in terms of family reunion.

He acknowledged that there were people who were living in the UK illegally.