Dhaka magistrates order Khaleda’s arrest in two libel suits

A day after Khaleda Zia secured bail from the top court in a graft case, two Dhaka metropolitan magistrates have ordered execution of arrest warrants for her in two libel suits.

Court Correspondentbdnews24.com
Published : 17 May 2018, 02:52 PM
Updated : 17 May 2018, 08:11 PM

The BNP chief was not released after the Supreme Court on Wednesday upheld her bail granted by the High Court in Zia Orphanage Trust graft case because the police had already showed her arrested in six more cases.

Metropolitan magistrates Khurshid Alam and Ahsan Habib were set to hear cases against Khaleda on Thursday on charges that she had insulted Bangabandhu by celebrating her birthday on a wrong date, and undermined Bangladesh’s national flag and map.

Both the magistrates ordered the police to execute the arrest warrants the courts had issued earlier for Khaleda and set July 5 for the next hearing.

The lawyers for Khaleda pleaded for her bail in the two suits earlier on Thursday.

Public Prosecutor Abdullah Abu filed a plea seeking order to execute the arrest warrants before hearing on the bail petitions.

In another development, four lawyers met Khaleda in the old jailhouse on Nazimuddin Road, where she has been lodged since Feb 8.

That was the day a special court sentenced her to five years in jail for corruption in the orphanage trust.

After the visit, lawyer Khandaker Mahbub Hossain told the media they discussed the details of the cases in which she was being shown arrested.

He said Khaleda expressed ire over her confinement on ‘false charges’.

“It won’t possible to get her out of jail through a legal battle if the government does not want it,” Khandaker Mahbub added.   

He also said Khaleda greeted the people on the Ramadan and urged them to pray for her.

“She is in a very bad health. She is suffering intense pain from arthritis, but she is not getting good treatment,” the senior lawyer said.

The three other lawyers who met Khaleda are AJ Mohammad Ali, Sanaullah Miah and Masud Ahmed Talukder.