Khaleda challenges High Court order over Zia Charitable Trust fund corruption case

BNP Chairperson Khaleda Zia has moved the Appellate Division seeking a freeze on the case that accuses her of graft involving funds for Zia Charitable Trust.

Senior Correspondentbdnews24.com
Published : 18 May 2016, 12:37 PM
Updated : 18 May 2016, 12:37 PM

The two pleas filed on Wednesday will be heard by a chamber judge next week, said her lawyer Ragib Rouf Chowdhury.

The High Court earlier turned down two of her pleas for suspend the case’s activities after her request to have its investigating officer cross-examined again was rejected by a special court. 

Khaleda’s lawyers sought fresh testimonies and cross-examinations on Apr 17 after objecting to the deposition by the case’s Investigating Officer Harunur Rashid. But Dhaka’s third special judge Abu Ahmed Jamadar rejected the plea.   

Two pleas were filed at the High Court for an order scrapping the decision but were rejected on May 15.

The BNP chief is among the four accused of embezzling Tk 31.5 million in the case filed by Anti Corruption Commission (ACC) in 2010. 

The others are Khaleda’s former political secretary Harris Chowdhury, his personal assistant Ziaul Islam Munna, former Dhaka City mayor Sadeque Hossain Khoka’s personal assistant Monirul Islam Khan. 
 
The trial began in on Mar 19, 2013 after all four were indicted. The defence is scheduled to begin arguments on Thursday.