Bangladesh, arrest warrant for opposition leader Khaleda Zia
Dhaka (AsiaNews) - This morning, a Dhaka court issued an arrest warrant for Khaleda Zia, twice Prime Minister of the country and current president of the Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP), the main opposition.
The leader is accused of not having presented herself in court today at a hearing for the two cases of corruption in which she is involved. Besides her, two other people were arrested: Kazi Saleemul Haq, former MP of the BNP, and the businessman Sharfuddin Ahmed.
Zia is accused
of having pocketed more than 600 thousand euro on two separate occasions
between 2001 and 2006, when she was Prime Minister of Bangladesh. If found
guilty, she faces a life sentence.
Zia and three of her associates are accused of embezzling 31.5 million taka
(about 356 900 euro) from Zia Charitable Trust, the charity fund named after Gen.
Ziaur Rahman, her husband and former president of Bangladesh assassinated in
1981 in a coup. Together with five other people - including her oldest son - she
pocketed 21.5 million taka (243,600 euro) from a fund for the Zia Orphanage, built
in memory of her husband.
Zia's lawyer Sanaullah
Miah, has criticized the judges decision explaining that "in fact, since the
beginning of January Khaleda Zia has been confined to her office, because of
the ongoing
political violence in the country. There is no justice in this nation
".
In early January, the Bangladeshi authorities blocked Zia in her office for
having called a national transport strike with a view to overthrowing the
government led by her bitter enemy Sheikh Hasina.
The strike has caused a new wave of violence, which has so far produced more than 100 dead and hundreds injured, in addition to causing huge inconvenience to the population. The BNP leader says the accusations of corruption against her are "politically motivated", with the sole purpose of destroying her and her party.
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