Anger defines the day for BNP chief Khaleda Zia

Signs of anger and frustration were writ large on Khaleda Zia’s face.

The former prime minister skipped court appearances over the past seven months in the Zia Charitable Trust graft case. This time, she was taken into the courtroom set up in the Old Dhaka jailhouse where she has been serving time as the sole inmate in another case since February. 

Khaleda wore her signature pink sari and white shoes to court on Wednesday. 

She was sentenced to five years in jail for corruption in the Zia Orphanage Trust on Feb 8, but the BNP chief could not be taken to court for hearings of other cases.

Finally, the government transferred the Dhaka Special Judge’s Court No. 5 to the jailhouse on Nazimuddin Road from the previous venue next to Alia Madrasa a few hundred metres away, citing security reasons.

On the first day of the hearing in the Zia Charitable Trust graft case, no defence lawyers were present in court while Khaleda expressed her anger and distrust in the legal proceedings.

Khaleda was kept in a room which had previously been used as a day-care centre on the first floor of the prison. The authorities allowed Khaleda to take assistance from her domestic aide in the jailhouse.

A room on the ground floor of the prison’s administrative building was converted into the courtroom.

The judge’s bench covered in red cloth, a witness box and chairs for prosecution and defence lawyers added to the courtroom ambiance.

A female prison guard brought Khaleda by wheelchair into the courtroom at 12:10pm. A tea-table covered in white cloth was placed in front of Khaleda in the dock.

A box of tissue and a bottle of water were provided for Khaleda. She wiped her face with tissue several times during the hearing that lasted around half an hour.

While the lawyers were speaking, Khaleda was seen looking down in signs of anger.

Pro-BNP lawyer Dhaka Bar Association President Golam Mostafa Khan came to court to observe the hearing. Khaleda spoke to him when he entered the courtroom.

Anti-Corruption Commission lawyer Mosharraf Hossain Kajal, state lawyer Abdullah Abu, Shah Alam Talukder and Tapas Kumar Paul were in the court.

The hearing started when judge Md Akhtaruzzaman arrived at 12:15pm.

At one stage, Khaleda sought to speak and said: “This court cannot continue like this.”

“You can punish me for as long as you want, but I cannot come here in this situation. I know this court will not deliver fair justice,” she told the judge.

“You can punish me for as many days as you want, but I cannot stay here for too long,” Khaleda said, adding that her legs would swell if she kept sitting that way for long.

Khaleda complained that her left leg is swollen almost to the level of paralysis. “My left hand is almost in the same condition.”   

The judge adjourned the court and set the next hearing for Sep 12-13.

Before going back to her room, she spoke to the media. Her senior lawyers did not know about the move to transfer the court because the related notice was issued on Tuesday, a day before the hearing, she said.

ACC lawyer Kajal said they sent copies of the notice to Khaleda’s lawyers and he informed them by phone as well.