Defence to place arguments on December 26, 27, 28

A court has fixed December 26,27 and 28 for the defence to place further arguments in the Zia Orphanage Trust and Zia Charitable graft cases against BNP Chairperson Khaleda Zia, reports UNB.

Judge Md Akhtaruzzaman of Dhaka Special Court-5 passed the order as Khaleda's lawyers could not complete closing arguments.

BNP Chairperson's counsel Abdur Razzak placed arguments in the Zia Orphanage Trust case for the second day on Thursday.

"The case was filed to destroy Khaleda's political life. We want justice as per the penal code. Khaleda and her family's prestige is associated with it. The case is totally false," Razzak told the court.

Meanwhile, after accepting the BNP chief's written self-defence statement in the Zia Charitable Trust graft case, the court asked Khaleda whether she wants any witness to testify for her.

As Khaleda replied in the negative, the court fixed dates for the next hearing.Earlier on December 5, after Khaleda's deposition, the court fixed December 19, 20 and 21 for the next hearing in the Zia Orphanage Trust and Zia Charitable Trust graft cases.

The court had also granted bail to Khaleda Zia in the cases responding to the bail petitions she filed after her surrender.

On November 30, the court issued an arrest warrant for Khaleda Zia in the two graft cases after cancelling her ad-interim bail as she failed to appear before it on the day.

On October 19, the court granted bail to her upon a Tk 0.1 million (1 lakh) bond each in the two graft cases.

On July 3, 2008, the Anti-Corruption Commission filed the Zia Orphanage Trust graft case with Ramna thana accusing Khaleda Zia, her eldest son Tarique Rahman, and four others for misappropriating over Tk 21 million (2.10 crore) that came as grants from a foreign bank for orphans.

On August 8, 2011, the commission filed the Zia Charitable Trust graft case with Tejgaon thana accusing four people, including Khaleda Zia, of abuse of power in raising funds for the trust from unknown sources.