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A view of Dhaka, the capital of Bangladesh (image for illustration). REUTERS / Mohammad Ponir Hossain

One of Bangladesh's opposition figures, Harunur Rashid, was sentenced to five years in prison. An extremely heavy sentence pronounced despite a very light file.

This conviction follows the acquisition of a car purchased tax free in 2005 and resold in 2007 without paying taxes.

At the time, Harunur Rashid was in government. The judges blame him for having taken advantage of his duties to get rich on the back of the tax services. They also punished the buyer of the two-year-old vehicle and the car dealership, who was sentenced to three years in prison.

Why such severity? Difficult not to explore the political track, because it is the third cadre of the BNP, the main opposition party, implicated for corruption, including a former prime minister sentenced to ten years of detention, not to mention the thousands of activists stopped .

After allegations of fraud and ballot boxing during the last legislative elections, the opposition today accuses the head of the government, Sheik Hasina, of sponsoring these legal proceedings. She talks about obstacles to democracy and authoritarian drift.

" We have just launched an anti-corruption campaign that is paying off, " says the executive.