1st LD Writethru: Arrest warrants issued against Bangladeshi ex-PM Khaleda Zia, two others
Xinhua, February 25, 2015 Adjust font size:
A court in Bangladesh's capital Dhaka has issued arrest warrants against ex-Prime Minister Khaleda Zia and two others in two cases filed by the country's anti-graft body.
The Special Judge Court-3 of Md Abu Ahmed Jomadar scrapped bails for Khaleda Zia, also chairperson of Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP) after she failed to appear in the hearing of the Zia Orphanage Trust and Zia Charitable Trust graft cases on Wednesday.
The two accused are former BNP lawmaker Kazi Saleemul Haq and businessman Sharfuddin Ahmed who were also absent from the court on different excuses.
Zainul Abedin Meshbah, a counsel for Khaleda, told journalists that Khaleda could not attend for security reasons.
Police clashed with her angry supporters outside the court. Khaleda Zia last time attended the hearing on Dec. 24 last year.
On Jan. 29, the judge fixed Feb. 25 for hearing the two graft cases.
The Special Judge Court-3 of Dhaka on last March 19 framed charges against Khaleda, her elder son Tarique Rahman and seven others in the Zia Orphanage Trust and Zia Charitable Trust corruption cases filed by Bangladesh's Anti-Corruption Commission (ACC)
Khaleda was indicted in both cases, while her elder son Tarique Rahman, senior vice-chairman of the BNP, in the orphanage case.
ACC filed the case in July 2008, saying that Khaleda and five others including her elder son Tarique Rahman had embezzled over 20 million taka (253,164 U.S. dollars) from an orphanage trust during her 2001-2006 term as prime minister.
In 2011, the anti-graft body sued the BNP chief and three others for pocketing 31.5 million taka (397,435 U.S. dollars) of the Zia Charitable Trust in the name of her late husband, former President Ziaur Rahman.
Khaleda Zia's opposition 20-party alliance has been observing the nonstop blockade across the country since Jan. 5, demanding fresh elections under a non-party caretaker government system.
On top of its blockade campaign, BNP and its 19 allies including key Bangladesh Jamaat-e-Islami party have been observing strike at regular intervals since the last month.
The alliance Tuesday extended its ongoing 72-hour nationwide strike till Friday morning in protest against what it said the killings of opposition men in the name of shootouts.
The fresh wave of violence has left scores of people dead and hundreds injured. Endi