MP Papul jailed in Kuwait

Mohammad Shahid Islam alias Kazi Papul. Photo: Collected

A Kuwaiti court yesterday sentenced Bangladeshi lawmaker Mohammad Shahid Islam alias Kazi Papul and four others to four years in jail in a bribery case.

Issuing the judgment, the court, headed by Counselor Abdullah Al-Othman, also fined them 1.9 million Kuwaiti dinars.

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 one Bangladeshi named Mohammad Rashidul Islam, report Kuwaiti newspaper Alqabas and other sources.

The criminal court also ordered the deportation of Rashidul Islam after jail terms.

Kuwaiti MP Saadoun Hammad and former MP Salah Khorshid, and three Bangladeshis -- Mahbub, Sheikh Masum and Anowar Molla -- who were also accused in the case for bribery, were acquitted.

Papul is also an accused in two other cases on charges of human trafficking and money laundering.

A foreign ministry official told The Daily Star that the Bangladesh embassy in Kuwait has not received any official notice regarding the imprisonment and fining of MP Papul but instead learned the matter from newspapers.

He said they have so far learned that Papul was sentenced and fined in a bribery case, while the trials of two other cases were ongoing.

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

He was accused of charging each worker, mostly from Bangladesh, up to 3,000 dinars in exchange for their journey to Kuwait. Many of them, however, alleged they were not given the jobs and wages as promised.

Papul was accused of bribing Kuwaiti officials with millions of dollars to recruit Bangladeshi workers and get contracts for his company.

In response to a complaint filed on February 16 last year, Bangladesh's Anti-Corruption Commission opened an enquiry into an allegation that Papul amassed Tk 1,400 crore by trafficking people to Kuwait and laundered the money to different countries.

The ACC said the enquiry was to look into the charges of loan forgery and money laundering by the NRB Commercial Bank Director Kazi Papul, his wife Selina, their daughter Kazi Wafa Islam and Selina's sister Jesmin.

On July 17, the ACC imposed a ban on all of their foreign travels, saying the embargo would be implemented for Papul after his return to the country.

On November 11, the ACC filed a case against Papul, Selina, Wafa and Jesmin for allegedly laundering about Tk 148.41 crore.

The enquiry is still pending.

On December 28, a Dhaka Court ordered the freezing of 617 bank accounts and 92 deeds of immoveable properties of Papul, following a petition filed by the ACC.

He had no involvement in politics back home before 2016.

Sources said Papul invested crores of taka to prevent other potential candidates in the Laxmipur-2 constituency and became an independent MP in the 2018 election. His wife Selina Islam did the same to become an MP in the women's reserved seats.

Foreign Minister AK Abdul Momen could not be reached for comments in this regard yesterday.

Speaking to The Daily Star in June last year, he had said, "It's a matter of regret and shame for us that an MP has been arrested on foreign land."

Bangladeshis living in Kuwait said Bangladesh's overseas labour market in Kuwait, where some 300,000 Bangladeshis work, already face setbacks and the conviction of Papul may contribute to the further deterioration of the market.

Meanwhile, as Papul has been convicted in one of the three cases, the question of whether his parliament membership would be cancelled arose.

Jatiya Sangsad Speaker Shirin Sharmin Chaudhury or Deputy Speaker Fazle Rabbi Miah could not be reached over phone for comments on the matter.

Earlier in September, Fazle Rabbi, however, had said, "Our consideration is that if we receive any judgment and other related documents that an MP has been awarded more than two years' imprisonment on moral turpitude, the Speaker will verify the documents and will take measures to vacate the seat."

He added that the MP's membership in parliament would be vacated only if he is convicted on moral turpitude.

Meanwhile, parliament proceedings expert and retired Chittagong University professor Nizam Uddin Ahmed said that Papul's parliament membership should be cancelled as he was sentenced to more than two years' imprisonment.

"It is not a matter of whether the trial of an MP is being held at home or abroad," he said.

According to article 66 of the constitution, a person shall be disqualified for election as, or as 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.

There are also several other grounds for which an MP can lose his membership in parliament.

Nizam said if a Bangladeshi court awards jail term to an MP, the government notifies the Speaker, who then informs the parliament.

Papul will have to stay in jail for four years, in which case another article of the constitution will be into effect.

According to article 67, a member of parliament shall vacate his seat if he is absent from parliament, without the leave of parliament, for 90 consecutive sitting days.