DHAKA: BNP chairperson Khaleda Zia, prime accused in the Zia Charitable and Orphanage trust graft cases, will not appear before court in the hearing, scheduled for Thursday (February 10).

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 last witness and investigating officer (IO) of the Zia Charitable trust graft case ACC deputy director Harun-or Rashid.

With this, she will skip the court appearance for seventh time out of eight hearing dates after return of home from London on November 26 last year.
Harun-or Rashid, the first witness in the Zia Orphanage trust case, will also be testified on the day.

Khaleda Zia’s lawyer advocate Sanaullah Mia told banglanews that his client would not go to court on Thursday for her illness.

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: 1126 HRS, Feb 10, 2016
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