Injustice led even undisputed leader Sheikh Mujib to jail: Khaleda

Khaleda Zia has said the verdict of the Zia Orphanage Trust corruption case will prove whether judges can work independently in Bangladesh.

The BNP chief made the remark on the fourth day of her statement defending herself at the Fifth Special Judge's Court of Dhaka at Bakshibazar on Thursday.

In the part of the statement, read out for around one and a half hours, she alleged the ruling Awami League wanted her "to be convicted in at least one of the cases against her".

"I want to believe that you will be free of party influences while delivering the verdict," the former prime minister told the judge.

Nuruzzaman Tapan, one of the counsels for Khaleda, told bdnews24.com: "She said Bangladesh experiences injustice in the name of justice; and that's why even the country's undisputed leaders late Sheikh Mujibur Rahman, Maulana Bhasani and Suhrawardy had to go to jail."

"She said the verdict of this case would prove whether the judges of the country can conduct trial following law independently and ruled by only their conscience," he said.

Judge Md Akhtaruzzaman adjourned the hearing until Nov 16 when Khaleda sought more time to finish her statement.

The court will also hear Zia Charitable Trust graft case on that day.

Earlier in her statement in the Zia Orphanage Trust graft case, Khaleda had said no fund of the trust had been embezzled and it was kept in a bank.

She had also alleged the ruling party "framed her on false charges to throw her out of politics by declaring her illegal to run for prime minister in the next parliamentary election".

Besides Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman, Maulana Abdul Hamid Khan Bhasani and Huseyn Shaheed Suhrawardy, the BNP chief on Thursday named Mahatma Gandhi, Subhas Chandra Bose, Chittaranjan Das, Jawwharlal Nehru, Nelson Mandela, and Martin Luther King Jr, who she said "had been sent to jail through injustice".

"Arguments, excuses and laws were cited behind those so-called judgments. Even greats like Imam Abu Hanifa (R) and Socrates were punished in the name of trial. Have the people of the world accepted these trials as justice?" she asked.   

She warned the Awami League government against injustice, saying "those who do not learn a lesson from history are thrown into the dustbin of history".