President of Supreme Court Bar Association (SCBA) Khandker Mahbub Hossain on Wednesday said BNP chairperson Khaleda Zia has not taken even a single penny from Zia Orphanage Trust and Zia Charitable Trust but the government has implicated her in the graft cases out of ill intention.He also reiterated that the issuance of arrest warrant against Khaleda Zia is illegal while a no-confidence petition against the court is pending with the higher court. “Zia Orphanage Trust and Zia Charitable Trust were founded with foreign funds to keep alive the memories of Ziaur Rahman (the founder of BNP). The government does not have a single penny in the two trusts. In case of misappropriation of money, the case should be filed under trust act. But the government has filed the cases using Anti Corruption Commission out of ill-intention,” Mahbub, who is also an adviser to BNP Chairperson, said while speaking at a press briefing at his Supreme Court office yesterday. “The government has hastily filed the cases against the BNP Chairperson to materialize its political interest. However, we are respectful of law and we want to go to the court if we get congenial environment and the security for life,” he said. Mahbub again sought the government assurance of Khaleda Zia’s safe return to her Gulshan office if she obtains bail from the court. “If she (Khaleda Zia) does not get bail and she is sent to jail, it would be a different thing. But, if she is granted bail, we want assurance that she would be allowed to return safely to her work place. Because, rumour is rife that the government would try to make her isolated from the people and political leaders,” he told the journalists. Regarding the legitimacy of the arrest warrant against Khaleda Zia, Mahbub said it is illegal because the court did not serve any show cause notice before issuing arrest warrant. “Moreover, we have submitted a no-confidence prayer against the trial court, seeking the transfer of the case to another court. Our petition is pending with the High Court. The court cannot pass any order at this stage. So, the issuance of arrest warrant against BNP Chairperson is illegal,” he said. “We also said the BNP Chairperson feels insecure to appear before the court. Earlier, her motorcade was attacked while appearing to the court, leaving some lawyers injured and the government that time did not take any action. But the court did not consider our plea,” he said.SCBA secretary Barrister AM Mahbub Uddin Khokon, also the joint secretary general of BNP, was also present at the news briefing.
