A top Bangladesh court on Thursday ruled that Opposition leader Khaleda Zia should stand trial in graft cases involving over US $6,50,000 that could see her jailed for life.
The High Court summarily rejected two petitions filed by former two-time Premier challenging her indictment linked to Zia Orphanage Trust and Zia Charitable Trust corruption cases.
The bench of Justices Borhanuddin and KM Kamrul Kader ruled after hearing the review petition filed on grounds that the charges were not framed “properly”.
On March 19, a Dhaka court framed charges against the 68-year-old chief of Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP), her son Tarique Rahman and seven others in the cases filed by the Anti-Corruption Commission (ACC). The court fixed May 21 for recording depositions of the witnesses.
Zia’s lawyers have called the charges politically motivated aimed at destroying the main Opposition party which has vowed to topple the Government of her arch rival Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina.
Expressing disappointment over ruling, Zia’s lawyer Khandker Mahbub Hossain told reports that they would move appeal before the Appellate Division of Supreme Court challenging the High Court order, The Daily Star reported.