Zia Charitable Trust graft case: Hearing postponed again over Khaleda’s illness

Arguments in the Zia Charitable Trust graft case have been postponed once again after BNP Chairperson Khaleda Zia was unable to appear in court.

Court Correspondentbdnews24.com
Published : 22 April 2018, 08:02 AM
Updated : 22 April 2018, 08:40 AM

Judge Md Akhtaruzzaman set May 10 for the new date of the hearing on Sunday and ordered prison authorities to bring Khaleda to court at the appointed time.

The judge also granted a petition by the defence to extend Khaleda’s bail in the case until then.

The Anti-Corruption Commission stated that Khaleda could not be brought to court due to her illness and petitioned for her to be present in court through a video conference. The motion was denied by the judge.

The BNP chief has been serving a five-year sentence in jail since the verdict in the Zia Orphanage Trust graft case on Feb 8.

Judge Akhtaruzzaman was also the presiding judge in that case.

Partial arguments were heard in the Zia Charitable Trust case onMar 13 from the team of another suspect, Ziaul Islam Munna. The following hearings were set for Mar 29 and Apr 5, but the prison authorities were unable to bring Khaleda to court.

On Apr 5, ACC lawyer Mosharraf Hossain Kajol requested that Khaleda be present in court via video conference. The petition was repeated verbally on Sunday and was dismissed following an objection by the defence.

On Aug 8, 2010 the Anti-Corruption Commission filed a case against four BNP leaders, including Khaleda, accusing them of embezzling Tk 31.54 million from the Zia Charitable Trust case.

The charges were submitted on Jan 16, 2012 by the ACC investigating officer. On Mar 19, 2013 the suspects were indicted.

The others accused in the case are Khaleda’s former political secretary Harris Chowdhury, his former personal assistant Ziaul Islam Munna, who is now the acting director (naval security and traffic) of BIWTA, and former Dhaka City mayor Sadeque Hossain Khoka’s personal assistant Monirul Islam Khan.