Bangladesh will try to share evidence with Saudi in favour of detained expat

The government will share evidence, if any, with the Saudi government -- in favour of Bangladeshi worker Abul Bashar who was sentenced to 20 years in prison by a court in the Kingdom after having been detained with yaba, said Foreign Minister Dr AK Abdul Momen today.

"Saudi judges are independent and they never get influenced. They work based on evidence. If there's any new evidence, those could be put up," said the minister at his office today.

The minister commented after journalists sought his remarks about media reports that indicated Bashar was not originally carrying the yaba pills but a person at Dhaka airport put it in his bag, saying those were "pickles". Later, he was detained at a Jeddah airport with the drug.

Asked whether the Consulate General of Bangladesh in Jeddah would look into it, Momen responded positively.

Bashar reportedly came to Bangladesh in December last year and left for Saudi Arabia in March this year.