Ex-envoy Nazimullah's jail sentence upheld

The High Court has upheld the jail sentence of ATM Nazimullah Chowdhury, a former Bangladeshi ambassador in Abu Dhabi, in a corruption case filed for embezzling state funds while he was in service.

It also ordered Nazimullah  to surrender before the lower court concerned in two weeks in connection with the case filed by the Anti-Corruption Commission (ACC) during the past caretaker government.

The HC however commuted the jail term to three years from five years. The ruling came in response to an appeal by Nazimullah challenging the trial court verdict which sentenced him to five years’ rigorous imprisonment in the case in November 2008.

ACC lawyer Khurshid Alam Khan told The Daily Star that the lower court will send Nazimullah to jail to serve the sentence of three years’ imprisonment after he surrenders before that court.

Harun-ur Rashid, another lawyer for ACC, said that Nazimullah has to surrender to the lower court after receiving the full text of HC verdict, which was not released on Thursday.

He said the HC has reduced Nazimulla’s jail sentence from five years (given by the lower court) to three years, since a charge of misappropriating money to purchase furniture for his residence was not proved.

Other charges of renting the ambassador's house and corruption in appointing gardeners at his residence were proved, he added.

The ACC filed the case with Shahbagh Police Station on May 14, 2008 against Nazimullah on charges of causing a loss of Tk 21 lakh to the state exchequer when he was serving as the Bangladesh ambassador in Abu Dhabi during the regime of BNP led four-party alliance government.

Nazimullah has got bail from the HC in this case in 2010.

Abdur Razzaque Khan and Fida M Kamal appeared for Nazimullah.