BNP chairperson Khaleda Zia appears before a special judge court in a graft case at Bakshi Bazaar in old part of Dhaka, on Thursday.
The Dhaka Special Judge’s Court-3 on Thursday asked BNP chairperson Khaleda Zia to appear before the court on November 24 to defend herself against the charge of abusing power as a prime minister in managing funds for Shaheed Ziaur Rahman Charitable Trust. The judge of the court, Abu Ahmed Jamadar, passed the order ending the cross-examination of the last prosecution witness, Harun Or Rashid, also the investigation officer in the case. The judge said that Khaleda could defend her in writing, speaking before the court or producing a list of defence witnesses for her support. ‘You have to be here in person, there is no alternative,’ the Judge told Khaleda, also former prime minister, in the makeshift courtroom at Bakshibazar. The court also set November 17 for recording testimony of another prosecution witness in Shaheed Ziaur Rahman Orphanage Trust case against Khaleda. On September 8, the Supreme Court ordered the trial court to allow Khaleda’s counsel to cross-examine the investigation officer of the Charitable Trust case on how the investigator was still working after his withdrawal from the Anti-Corruption Commission in 2005, what he had said in his oath and whether the board of trustees was be liable or not under the Trust Act 1882 for misuse of the trust property. During the cross examination, Harun said that Khaleda was a settler of the trust and she introduced her as the Bangladesh Nationalist Party chief on October 26, 2004. He, however, said that the investigation had not found any deviation from the deed of the trust. Harun also said that none of beneficiaries of the trust made the allegation, and the commission had no allegation about breach of the trust law. About his job with the commission, Harun said that he along with the then Bureau of Anti-Corruption official Jahangir Alam had filed a writ petition challenging a government order not to absorb him and many others into the commission. The High Court in September 2007 stayed the government order and his job continued afterword following another government order issued on May 4, 2008 with the effect from February 25, 2008. He said that he investigated both the charitable and orphanage trust cases against Khaleda. Harun said he was asked to investigate the case from April 29, 2008 after the commission rejected the investigation report of its assistant director Nur Ahmed. He denied that he was aggrieved at the vulnerabilities of his job during Khaleda’s rule. On August 8, 2011, the ACC filed the charitable trust case with Tejgaon police station accusing four people, including Khaleda, of abusing power in raising funds and its management. On January 16, 2012, Harun submitted the charge sheet against four people including Khaleda. The commission filed the orphanage trust case on July 3, 2008 with Ramna police station accusing Khaleda, her eldest son Tarique Rahman, now in London, and four others of misappropriating over Tk 2.10 crore that came as grants from a foreign bank for orphans.
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Source: New Age
