BNP Chairperson Khaleda Zia yesterday told a Dhaka court that her party leaders had been kept busy with cases at a time when the preparation for the national election was underway.

She made the comment before a makeshift court inside the old Dhaka central jail during the hearing on charge framing against her and 10 others in the Niko graft case.

Sitting in a wheelchair, Khaleda said the case was filed to harass her politically and she was produced before the court despite being sick.

BNP standing committee member Barrister Moudud Ahmed, also one of the accused in the case, said the setting of the court was not appropriate for holding the trial as there was no proper sitting arrangements for the lawyers and too much noise in the courtroom was making it difficult for them to hear the proceedings.

Such surrounding of the court was an obstacle to fair justice, he said, adding that the court should be shifted to the previous makeshift court at Alia Madrasa in the city's Bakshibazar where the conditions were suitable.  

Mosahrraf Hossain Kajol, public prosecutor of the Anti-Corruption Commission, opposed the defence plea saying that they were trying to delay the hearing on charge framing.

At one stage, Judge Md Mahmoodul Kabir told Moudud that he had been seeking adjournment for hearing for the last one year and he should end the hearing.     

The judge of the Special Judge Court-9 of Dhaka then adjourned the trial proceedings until January 3 next year.

LAWYERS MEET KHALEDA

After yesterday's hearing, Khaleda and her lawyers held a closed-door meeting in a room next to the courtroom.

Supreme Court Bar Association President Zainul Abedin, General Secretary AM Mahbub Uddin Khokon, Barrister Moudud Ahmed and Supreme Court Lawyer Ahmed Azam Khan, also a BNP vice chairman, sat with Khaleda at 1:20pm and talked for around half an hour.

Talking to journalists after the meeting, Zainul Abedin said they didn't discuss issues related to the national election. “We talked with Khaleda Zia about numerous cases filed against her.”

LAWYERS GET CERTIFIED COPY OF VERDICT

Meanwhile, Khaleda's lawyers yesterday received the certified copy of the 668-page full verdict in the Zia Charitable Trust graft case in which the BNP chief was sentenced to seven years' rigorous imprisonment on October 29.

The lawyer said they would soon file an appeal with the High Court challenging the verdict.