Khaleda arrives at Bakshibazar’s special court for trusts grafts hearing

BNP Chairperson Khaleda Zia has arrived at a special court in Bakshibazar to attend the hearings of two trust graft cases against her.

She arrived at the court of Third Special Judge, Abu Ahmed Jamaddar, around 10:30am on Monday, after an hour drive from her Gulshan residence. 

The court is scheduled to hear the cross-examination of the plaintiff in the Zia Charitable Trust Graft Case and accounts of witnesses in the Zia Orphanage Trust Graft Case.

Her press secretary Maruf Kamal Khan told bdnews24.com that she had set off around 9:30am for the special court, accompanied by her Special Assistant Shamsur Rahman Shimul Biswas and Mahbub Al Amin Dew. 

She has been charged with siphoning off Tk 52.5 million from the charities in the cases filed by the Anti-Corruption Commission. The BNP claims the cases are politically motivated, a charge the government denies.

In the last hearing on July 23, Khaleda’s lawyer Khandker Mahbub Hossain grilled plaintiff ACC Director Harun-Ur-Rashid for the second day. He also asked the judge for more time as they had moved the High Court to scrap the plaintiff’s testimonies. 

The court had set the next day for Aug 3. Meanwhile, High Court has turned down Khaleda’s plea to scrap the plaintiff’s testimonies on July 6. 

File Photo

Rashid deposed before the court on May 25 in the Zia Charitable Trust graft case and had the orphanage trust graft case earlier. But the defence lawyers had refrained from grilling him.

In 2008, ACC filed the Zia Orphanage Trust graft case against six including Khaleda and her son Tarique Rahman.

It alleged that the defendants had embezzled Tk 21 million from funds meant for the trust, which reportedly came from a foreign bank.

In 2011, the anti-corruption watchdog sued the BNP chief and three others for embezzlement of Tk 31.5 million of the Zia Charity Trust.
 
Last year, following the indictment in the case on Mar 19, Khaleda move the High Court challenging its validity and legality of appointment of the judge framing the charges. However, both the pleas were scrapped.