Arrest warrant against Zia

A Bangladeshi court ordered the arrest of former Prime Minister Khaleda Zia in connection with two graft cases after she repeatedly failed to appear for the hearings, a development which could escalate political turmoil in the country that has claimed at least 110 lives.
The arrest warrant was issued by a special anti- corruption court after 69-year-old Zia’s lawyers sought to defer the scheduled hearing saying their client could not appear due to “security reasons”.
Abu Ahmed Jomadar of Special Judge Court-3, which is hearing the Zia Orphanage Trust and Zia Charitable Trust graft cases against the former premier and eight others, including her ‘fugitive’ elder son Tarique Rahman, issued the warrant after cancelling her existing bail.
Zia is accused of embezzling nearly $650,000 in the two corruption cases during her last term as the PM from 2001 to 2006. “The court issued warrants against her … There is no justice,” her lawyer Sanaullah Miah told reporters.
Court officials said the order came as the ex-premier in the past skipped more than 50 such hearings of the simultaneous trial of the two cases and her counsels every time gave different excuses for her absence.
The development came amid a political unrest as Zia’s Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP) continued to enforce a non-stop nationwide blockade since January 6, sparking violence that so far claimed nearly 110 lives.
The judge also dismissed the defence plea for adjournment and continued with the planned hearing during which an official of the independent Anti-Corruption Commission testified before the court.
Zia’s elder son and BNP’s senior vice-president, who now lives in London, is a co-accused in the case. The court earlier declared him “fugitive” as he preferred not to face the trial in person.