Khaleda asked to appear in court Dec 8

BNP Chairperson Khaleda Zia

Rejecting adjournment petitions, a Dhaka court today resumed trial of Zia Orphanage and Zia Charitable corruption cases against BNP Chairperson Khaleda Zia and eight others.

Judge Basudev Roy of the Special Judge Court-3 recorded parts of the deposition of Harun-ur-Rashid, deputy director of the Anti-Corruption Commission (ACC) and also the complainant of the cases.
After recording the statements for over 15 minutes, the judge was forced to postpone the hearing till December 8 due to a chaotic situation created by defence lawyers.
The court also asked Khaleda Zia and four others now on bail in the cases to appear before it on that day.
Earlier in the day, the court rejected two petitions filed by the BNP chief seeking adjournment to record the deposition in the graft cases.
Mahbub Uddin Khokon, a counsel for Khaleda, submitted the time petitions before the Special Judge Court-3 saying that they filed two separate petitions with the High Court for the transfer of the cases from the court as they “would not get justice” here.
Opposing the petitions, the prosecution said the apex court had already dismissed all the leave to appeal petitions filed by Khaleda, clearing the way for holding the trials.    
After hearing from both the defence and prosecution, Judge Basudev Roy rejected the petitions.
Khaleda yesterday submitted two more petitions with the HC expressing no confidence in the Special Judges Court-3 of Dhaka judge Basudev Roy, who had framed the charges against her and eight others in Zia Charitable Trust and Zia Orphanage Trust graft cases.
The ACC in 2009 filed the Zia Orphanage Trust graft case for embezzlement of over Tk 2.1 crore by forming a “fake” trust which existed only on paper.
The anti-graft watchdog filed Zia Charitable Trust corruption case in 2011 accusing four people, including Khaleda, of abusing power in setting up the charitable trust.