DHAKA:  BNP chairperson Khaleda Zia will not appear before court in the hearing of Zia Charitable and Orphanage Trust Graft cases on Monday.

With this, she will skip the court appearance for fourth time after return of home from London.

Judge Abu Ahmed Jomadar of the Special Judge's Court-3 setup on Alia Madrasa premises at Bakshibazar is scheduled to hear cross-examination of the new witness and recording deposition of next witnesses in the n the Zia Charitable trust graft case.

The court will also record the statement of ACC deputy director Harun-or-Rashid, also investigating officer of the case, on next hearing date (December 21).

On December 10, the court also fixed December 14 for recording deposition of witness and cross-examination on the Zia Orphanage Trust graft case 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 Tk over 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:  1539 HRS, DEC 20, 2015
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