Prime Minister’s Information Adviser Dr Zahid Ur Rahman said there is no legal obstacle to trying resigned President Md Shahabuddin for earlier offences. He made the remarks at a news conference at the Department of Information in the Secretariat in the capital on Tuesday afternoon. Chief Information Officer Syed Abdal Ahmed was also present.

Rahman said courts would independently decide any matter concerning the former president’s trial, and that the government had no scope to comment on the issue. He described the courts as fully independent and said every citizen has a constitutional right to obtain justice. The government respects that right, he added.

At the same briefing, Rahman addressed possible attendance by the prime minister at the BRICS summit in India. He said no decision had yet been made on the prime minister’s travel. Bangladesh is not a BRICS member, he said, but Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi has invited Prime Minister Tarique Rahman to attend this year’s summit in India.