ACC wants Khaleda in court for Zia charitable graft hearing

The Anti-Corruption Commission (ACC) today filed a petition with a special court in Dhaka for the presence of BNP Chairperson Khaleda Zia during a hearing in Zia Charitable Trust graft case on February 25.

Mosharraf Hossain Kajol, a lawyer of the ACC, submitted the petition as Khaleda is in jail as she was convicted and sentenced in the Zia Orphanage Trust graft case.

Judge of Special Judge Court-5 Md Akhtaruzzaman did not pass any order on the issue today.

The anti-graft body filed the Zia charitable corruption case in August 2011 with Tejgaon Police Station accusing four persons including Khaleda of abusing power to raise funds for the trust from unknown sources.

The three other accused are: Harris Chowdhury, political secretary of the then prime minister Khaleda between 2001 and 2006; Ziaul Islam Munna, assistant private secretary (APS) to Harris; and Monirul Islam Khan, APS of former Dhaka city mayor Sadeque Hossain Khoka.

The former premier landed in jail on February 8 after a special court sentenced her to five years' rigorous imprisonment in Zia Orphanage Trust corruption case.