DHAKA: BNP chairperson Khaleda Zia will not appear the special court at Bakshi Bazar in Dhaka for the hearing of Zia Charitable and Orphanage Trust Graft cases slated for Thursday.

The hearing will be held at the Special Judge’s Court-3 of Judge Abu Ahmed Jomadar setup on Alia Madrasa premises in city.

Earlier, the court set December 10 for cross-examination of the new witness and recording deposition of next witnesses.

The BNP chief also skipped last hearing date (December 3) in the Zia Charitable Trust Graft case on health ground.

Khaleda’s lawyer advocate Sanaullah Mia told banglanews on Wednesday that his client will not able to appear before the court on Thursday due to her illness.

Till the date, 25 witnesses gave their depositions in Zia Charitable Trust Graft case.

Besides, the same court kept the hearing of Zia Orphanage Trust Graft case adjourned as an application of the defense seeking 'leave to appeal' pending at the High Court.

Zia Orphanage Trust Graft Case

The Anti Corruption Commission (ACC) filed the graft case on July 3, 2008 with Ramna Police Station accusing Khaleda, her eldest son Tarique Rahman and four others of misappropriating more than Tk 2.10-crore, which came as grants from a foreign bank for orphans.

The other accused are former BNP lawmaker Kazi Saleemul Haque, businessperson Sharfuddin Ahmed, Khaleda’s former principal secretary Kamal Uddin Siddiqui and Momenur Rahman.

Zia Charitable Trust Graft Case

On August 8, 2011 ACC filed the case with Tejgaon Police Station accusing four people, including Khaleda Zia, of abusing power in raising funds for the trust from unknown sources.

The other accused in the case are Harris Chowdhury, Ziaul Islam Munna, assistant private secretary (APS) to Harris, Monirul Islam Khan and APS to Sadeque Hossain Khoka, mayor of the erstwhile Dhaka City Corporation.

BDST: 1406 HRS, DEC 09, 2015
RS/RR/SMS