bdnews24.com: BNP Chairperson Khaleda Zia has appeared before a Dhaka court on Thursday to attend hearing of graft cases against her. The former prime minister is tried at Dhaka’s Third Special Judge’s Court, set up at the capital’s Bakshibazar, for the Zia Charitable Trust and Zia Orphanage Trust corruption cases. She left her Gulshan home around 9:50am, her press secretary Maruf Kamal Khan told bdnews24.com. Her motorcade reached the court premises around 11am. The Anti-Corruption Commission in 2008 and 2010, respectively, had lodged the cases over siphoning off Tk 52.5 million from the two trusts. In the Zia Charitable Trust case, filed with Ramna police, the ACC accused the BNP chief and three others for embezzlement of Tk 31.5 million. In the Zia Orphanage Trust case, filed with Tejgaon police, six including Khaleda and her son Tarique Rahman were accused of embezzling Tk 21 million from funds meant for the trust. Khaleda, accused in both cases along with several others, had skipped the last hearing held on Sep 3 citing health reasons. That day, her lawyers had finished cross-examining the two State’s witnesses in the Charitabale Trust case, Sonali Bank senior official Insan Uddin Ahmed and cash department official Shahjahan Khan. Later, three other witnesses, Pubali Bank Ltd’s Senior Principal Officer SM Ismail and Janata Bank Ltd’s Saat Masjid Road branch Deputy General Manager Sheikh Makbul and the same branch’s first AGM Fahmida Rahman, testified in the court. Earlier, plaintiff of both cases ACC Deputy Director Harun-Ur-Rashid and police Sub-Inspector Mahfuzul Haque, who recorded the case, had testified in the case. Only Rashid so far has testified in the Orphanage Trust case, but he is yet to face cross-examination by defence lawyers. Khaleda was indicted in the cases on Mar 19 last year. The cases were transferred to the special court at Bakshibazar on May 7 same year. The BNP chief had moved the High Court challenging the validity of the indictment and legality of appointment of the judge framing the charges. However, both the pleas were scrapped.
