Dhaka, Jan 27 – The opposition BNP high command on Saturday night noted its indignation over what it called the haste in which the date for giving verdict in a graft case against their chairperson Khaleda Zia has been fixed a part of a government’s plot and urged the people to be vocal against it.“The entire nation is worried and aggrieved over the haste in fixing of date to pronounce verdict hurriedly. We think it is part of a conspiracy to destroy democracy and foil an inclusive national election,” said BNP secretary general Mirza Fakhrul Islam Alamgir after a scheduled meeting of the Standing Committee, party’s highest policy-making body.
He said, “Our National Standing Committee members at their meeting strongly condemned and protested the government’s unlawful attitude to harass innocent persons, including our leader Khaleda Zia, in false, fabricated and politically motivated cases. We urge people to get united and be vocal against the government’s plot in the name of trial.”
An hour after the BNP policymakers had an emergency meeting, Fakhrul came up with the remarks at a press conference at BNP chairperson’s Gulshan office.
On Thursday, the Special Court-5 in Dhaka fixed February 8 to deliver the verdict in the Zia Orphanage Trust graft case against Khaleda and five other people. Prior to that it had a series of daily hearings reuiring the presence of Begum khaleda Zia. For several months there had been weekly hearings before holding almost monthly hearings for about a year, said a BNP leader.
The ACC filed the Zia Orphanage Trust graft case on July 3, 2008 with Ramna Police Station accusing Khaleda, her eldest son Tarique Rahman, now living in the UK, and four others for misappropriating over 2.10 crore that came as grants from a foreign bank for orphans.
Khaleda’s lawyers tried to get the case scrapped by the higher court on the plea that such cases filed by the last military-backed caretaker government following the 1/11 changeover were politically motivated. Cases filed against leaders of the present ruling party during that period have subsequently been cancelled on the plea of their being political in nature, anothter BNP leader said.
If convited in the case Khaleda is likely be disqualified for the next general election. Khaleda’s lawyers in their arguments tried to convince the court that the case was poliical, started by the esrtwhile caretaker government, and that documents submitted in its support were false and fabricated.
The prosecution on its side said the case was probed beyond reasonable doubt and demanded the maximum punishment against khaleda Zia for embazzlement of Zia Orphanage Trust fund. In her defence Khaleda made a lengthy submission to the make-shift special court, set up at Dhaka’s Madrasah-e-Alia ground, that the amount of money alleged to have been embezzled remained with the Trust’s bank amount and that as chairman of the trust he had made no transactions from the same.
Asked whether their party policymakers worked out any action programme, he said they will unveil it once the verdict is announced.
Fakhrul said the court concluded the trial proceedings in the case and abruptly set the date for delivering the verdict. “Our senior lawyers think the court’s move is not only unusual and unexpected but also mysterious.”
He said the people think the move was taken as part of the government’s evil design to keep BNP and Khaleda out of the next general election.
The BNP leader said it seems the government and the ruling party knows what will be in the verdict. They are making comment on the same and talking about preparation to tackle the situation that is likely to arise after the pronouncement of the verdict.
“It is clearly discerned that another attempt of suppressing the opposition is going to be made using the court by doing a farce in the name of trial,” he said.
BNP standing committee members had the meeting with party chairperson Khaleda Zia in the chair. The meeting stared at 9-30 pm abd continued till 11:45pm – UNB
