Process underway to take action against Papul

The process of taking action against independent Laxmipur-2 lawmaker Mohammad Shahid Islam alias Kazi Papul has been started as documents and other papers on his conviction in a Kuwait court has reached the parliament secretariat.

Speaker Shirin Sharmin Chaudhury received a copy of the documents on Thursday evening.

On January 28, Papul was sentenced to four years' imprisonment and fined 1.97 million Kuwaiti dinars (Tk 55 crore) in a bribery case.

Talking to The Daily Star today, Zafar Ahmed Khan, senior secretary, parliament secretariat, said process regarding taking decision on Shahid Islam's membership in parliament has already started.

He also said it might take two to three days to complete the process.

Asked whether Papul's membership in parliament will be revoked, the senior secretary said according to Article 66 of the Constitution there are several provisions under which an MP can be disqualified from being a member of parliament.

One of the provisions says: "A person shall be disqualified for election as, or for being, a member of parliament who has been, on conviction for a criminal offence involving moral turpitude, sentenced to imprisonment for a term of not less than two years, unless a period of five years has elapsed since his release. "

"As he [Papul] has been sentenced to four years' imprisonment, the parliament will take the decision in light of this," Zafar said.

The same article also says in case of any dispute over vacating membership of the respective MP, it shall be referred to the Election Commission to hear and determine it and the decision of the commission on such reference shall be final.

The senior secretary also said the Speaker of the Jatiya Sangsad will take the final decision in line with the constitution and the rules of procedure of parliament.

Speaker Shirin Sharmin Chaudhury today said she has received the documents and other papers regarding Shahid Islam's conviction in a Kuwait court.

"We will evaluate the matter and will take decision [on Papul's membership in parliament] in line with the constitution and the rules of procedure of parliament," she added.

Earlier today, Foreign Minister AK Abdul Momen said, "We have received the 61-page verdict of Papul -- both in Arabic and in English. We have already sent the documents to the Jatiya Sangsad Speaker and the Ministry of Home Affairs. They will take actions as per the law.

"Like ours, it also takes a long time to write the full verdict and then secure it from the court. We were under heavy pressure because media often asks us about it. Speaker [of the National Parliament] also often calls us. Therefore, we had appointed a lawyer to get the copy of the verdict fast, through our ambassador in Kuwait," he told reporters after an event titled "We Colourful Fest 2021" organised by Women and E-commerce Forum at Purbachal Club.

Soon after getting it in the first week of February, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs sent it to the Ministry of Home Affairs and to the Speaker for necessary actions to be taken by them, Momen said.

On June 6 last year, Kuwait's Criminal Investigation Department arrested Papul, an independent lawmaker from Laxmipur-2, and the managing director and CEO of Marafie Kuwaitia Group.

He was accused of human trafficking, bribing Kuwaiti officials with millions of dollars to recruit Bangladeshi workers and get contracts for his company, money laundering, fraud related to employment of workers in his company, and violating the residence law.

The others sentenced include Kuwait's interior ministry's Assistant Under-Secretary Maj Gen Mazen Al-Jarrah, and Nawaf Al-Mutairi, Hassan Al-Khader and Papul's associate Mohammad Rashidul Islam, a Bangladeshi.

Quoting Arabic newspaper Al Qabas, The Times reported that Papul is estimated to have obtained KD5 million in assets in Kuwait. During investigations, all his bank accounts and that of his company were frozen.

Foreign Minister Momen said yesterday that Papul did not seek any legal assistance from the Bangladesh embassy in Kuwait.

"He used to stay there as a businessman. He neither had diplomatic passport nor did he seek any assistance from our mission in Kuwait because he himself had good establishment over there," he said.