Staff Reporter: Police have arrested New York state senator Luis Sepúlveda who gave recognizer Ziaur Rahman as the ‘Declarer of Independence’. On March 26, 2015, on the occasion of Bangladesh’s Independence Day, the New York State Senate passed a resolution referring to Ziaur Rahman as the ‘Declarer of Independence’ of Bangladesh. Police arrested him on Tuesday for allegedly trying to suffocate his divorced wife. To the expatriate Bangladeshis in the Bronx, New York, he is known as ‘Lewis Bhai’. He tried to suffocate his divorced wife last Saturday at his home in the Bronx area, New York. He was arrested on the basis of his wife’s allegations. A source in the NYPD’s Detective department said.
State Sen. Luis Sepúlveda, 56, faces a charge of criminal obstruction of breathing in connection with the encounter Saturday at his Bronx home, NYPD spokesperson Detective Sophia Mason said. Information on his arraignment wasn’t immediately available.
Sepúlveda, a Democrat representing parts of the Bronx since 2018, was removed Tuesday as chair of the state Senate’s Crime Victims, Crime and Correction Committee. He was also stripped of other committee assignments.
Sepúlveda’s lawyer called the allegation “false” and said it was “a calculated attempt by a disgruntled party to leverage a divorce settlement.”
Records show Sepúlveda’s wife filed for a dissolution of their marriage on Nov. 2 in Orange County, Florida, where they own a home. A lawyer listed in court records as representing Sepúlveda’s wife in the divorce case said through a secretary that she could not discuss the matter.
Mason said police were called to Sepúlveda’s Bronx home around 5:45 a.m. Saturday for a domestic incident. He and his wife, 40, accused each other of assault, police said.
Sepúlveda’s wife previously sought an order of protection against him in 2015, when he was a member of the state Assembly. Sepúlveda said at the time that it was a temporary order later withdrawn by his wife. Both said that in that incident they had an argument but that it never turned violent.
Sepúlveda’s lawyer, Marvin Ray Raskin, contends that it is the lawmaker who has been the victim of recurring physical violence at the hands of his wife. Raskin in a statement reacting to the arrest that Sepúlveda has been enduring the alleged abuse for about nine years in part because he and his wife have a young child.
“All allegations must be taken seriously and investigated to the full extent of the law,” Raskin said. ”… The issues raised must see the full light of day, and we are confident that when the true history of the relationship is understood, the facts that present themselves will clear his name.”
In Albany, reaction to the allegations against Sepúlveda was swift.
Senate Minority Leader Rob Ortt, a Republican from the Buffalo area, called on Sepúlveda to resign immediately if the allegations were true.
“Let me be clear: we cannot tolerate any acts of domestic violence from anyone, especially a sitting member of our Senate Chamber,” Ortt said in a statement.
Andrea Stewart-Cousins, the Democratic Majority Leader who removed Sepúlveda from his committee roles, said: “I take these allegations extremely seriously and will be monitoring this situation closely.”
New York State Senator Luis Sepulveda is very popular with thousands of expatriate Bangladeshis living in the Bronx. He had free participation in almost every activity of the expatriates. For this reason, the local expatriates affectionately called him ‘Luis Bhai’. He would have been happier if someone had called him by that name.
On October 20, 2019, a delegation led by Senator Luis Sepulveda visited Dhaka with five senators and three other staff members. They are Luis Sepulveda, John Lew, James Scoophis, Leroy Comri and Kevin A. Parker. All of them are members of the Democratic Party. These five senators have been giving strong support and cooperation to the Bangladesh community in New York on various issues and in various ways.
At that time, Senator Luis Sepulveda’s visit to Bangladesh caused a storm of protests in exile because Senator Luis Sepulveda passed a resolution in the New York State Senate calling Ziaur Rahman the ‘Declarer of Independence’ of Bangladesh, recognizing Ziaur Rahman as the ‘Declarer of Independence’ of Bangladesh. The resolution numbered J-1048 was passed in the New York State Senate on the occasion of the Independence Day of Bangladesh on March 26, 2015.
Another resolution (resolution) was passed in the New York State Assembly on March 24 of the same year. One of its architects was the then Assemblyman Luis Sepulveda. He is a State Senator and has led a delegation to Bangladesh.
BP/SM
