Khaleda cases: Recording testimony deferred to Oct 26

A Dhaka court on Monday deferred the recording of statement by prosecution witnesses till October 26 in Zia Charitable Trust and Zia Orphanage Trust graft cases against BNP Chairperson Khaleda Zia and others. Judge Basudev Roy of the Special Judge’s Court-3 passed the order when Khaleda Zia’s lawyer Barrister Mahbubuddin Khokon submitted two petitions seeking time. In a petition, he mentioned that Khaleda Zia could not appear before the makeshift court in the city’s Bakshibazar on Monday due to security reason. In another petition, the lawyer sought adjournment of recording testimony until the Appellate Division of the Supreme Court resolves the leave-to-appeal filed by the BNP chief against a High Court order that rejected her two writ petitions. The court asked Khaleda Zia to appear before the court on Oct 26. On March 19, the judge indicted Khaleda, her son and BNP’s senior vice-chairman Tarique Rahman, and seven others in the two cases. On August 8, 2011, the Anti Corruption Commission filed the Zia Charitable Trust graft case with Tejgaon Police Station accusing four people, including Khaleda, of abusing power in raising funds for the trust from unknown sources. The ACC filed the Zia Orphanage Trust case on July 3, 2008, with Ramna Police Station accusing Khaleda, Tarique Rahman and four others for misappropriating over Tk 21 million which came as grants from a foreign bank for orphans, according to a news agency.