Khaleda going to court, finally

BNP Chairperson Khaleda Zia is likely to surrender before a Dhaka court today to seek bail in Zia Orphanage Trust and Zia Charitable Trust cases, as the court resumes proceedings in the two corruption cases.

"The BNP chief will appear before the court around 11:30am tomorrow [today]. She will seek bail," Khaleda's counsel Sanaullah Mia said yesterday.

Some senior BNP leaders and staffs at Khaleda's Gulshan office also confirmed this to The Daily Star. 

“Khaleda Zia will leave her Gulshan office around 9:30am for the court in Bakshibazar area, and then go to her Gulshan residence from there,” Syrul Kabir Khan, staff of the BNP chairperson's media wing, told this correspondent last night.

On February 25, the Special Judge's Court-3 cancelled her bail and issued warrants for her arrest for dodging court hearing on four consecutive dates.

Following issuance of the warrants, she lost the right to defend herself in the two cases until she surrenders, as the court declared her a fugitive.

During a hearing of the cases on March 4, Judge Abu Ahmed Jomadar said, "She [Khaleda] can contest the cases if she surrenders before the court in future."

If she does so, this will be the first time Khaleda surrenders to a court in her political career of more than three decades.

Khaleda has been staying at her Gulshan office since January 3, and giving instructions to her party leaders on the anti-government agitation.

The BNP-led alliance enforced a non-stop nationwide blockade from January 6, and observed a series of shutdowns to force the government to call fresh polls.

Meanwhile, police last evening allowed BNP men to enter the party's central office in Nayapaltan after three months.

On Friday night, law enforcers, who had kept the BNP central office locked since January 3, were withdrawn from in front of it.

They were stationed there for more than three months to prevent BNP men from entering the office.

The development came after the BNP made major changes in its strategy.

The party shifted its focus to city corporation elections from street agitation. BNP-backed aspirants filed nomination papers to contest mayoral polls in the three city corporations slated for April 28.

A senior BNP leader told this correspondent that the changes would give the party scope for reassessing its strategy to strengthen anti-government agitation.

"We are considering the city polls a battle to prove that people have rejected the government. Khaleda Zia will carry out extensive election campaigns for the party-backed mayoral candidates," said the senior BNP leader.

This would boost the morale of the party's grassroots leaders, he added.

Political analysts observe that Khaleda's surrender to the court would save the government from embarrassment to some extent.

The government has refrained from executing the arrest warrants to avert further political unrest, they say.

As government policymakers remain divided over her arrest, police officials keep claiming that the warrants haven't reached the Gulshan Police Station even in 39 days.   

Khaleda's lawyer Sanaullah, also her adviser, yesterday urged the government to ensure adequate security for the former prime minister on her way to and from the court.

Talking to reporters, he called upon the government to take necessary measures so that no untoward incident takes place again. 

When Khaleda last appeared before the court on December 24, Bangladesh Chhatra League activists swooped on BNP men, who had gathered in the Bakshibazar area.

THE CASES

According to the charge sheet of the Zia Orphanage case, Khaleda, Tarique and four others embezzled Tk 2.1 crore by forming the charity that exists only on paper.

The statement of the other case say the BNP chief and three others abused power to collect Tk 6.19 crore for Zia Charitable Trust during the BNP-led government's tenure between 1991 and 1996.

The Anti-Corruption Commission filed both the cases.

Khaleda has been irregular in attending case proceedings. She has refrained from appearing before the court on 56 out of 63 dates for hearing in the two cases.

BNP OFFICE OPENS

BNP men were allowed to enter party's Nayapaltan office yesterday evening, three months after it was locked by law enforcers on January 3.

No police or Rab personnel were seen in front of the office.

Asked, BNP Assistant Office Secretary Asadul Karim Shahin said they cut the lock in the collapsible gate, as someone had changed the lock.

Entering the office, the party men found that there was no electricity or water. Asadul, however, couldn't say whether the power and water lines were cut off.