DHAKA: Bangladesh’s former prime minister Khaleda Zia has been acquitted in five separate cases, including one filed over allegations of celebrating a “fake birthday” and another for supporting war criminals, a media report said on Tuesday.
Dhaka Additional Chief Metropolitan Magistrate Mahbubul Haque’s court issued acquittal orders in four cases whereas Additional Chief Metropolitan Magistrate Tofazzal Hossain’s court acquitted her in one case on Tuesday, The Dhaka Tribune newspaper reported.
The defendant, 79-year-old Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP) chairperson Zia, was acquitted after the plaintiff did not appear in court.
The cases were scheduled for hearing on the day. However, as the plaintiff did not appear in court, they were dismissed and the defendant, Khaleda Zia, was acquitted.
Advocate Masud Ahmed Talukdar and Advocate Syed Zainal Abedin Mezbah, among others, represented Khaleda Zia in court.
On August 30, 2016, Gazi Zahirul Islam, former joint general secretary of the Dhaka Union of Journalists, filed a case accusing Khaleda Zia of celebrating a “fake birthday.”
The complaint says that although five different birthdates of Khaleda Zia are found through various sources, none is on August 15. Despite this, she has been celebrating her birthday on August 15, the national mourning day commemorating the martyrdom anniversary of Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman, since 1996.
The complaint alleges she celebrates her birthday on this day solely to tarnish the reputation of Bangabandhu and his family.
On November 3, 2016, one case was filed by AB Siddique, president of Bangladesh Jananetri Parishad, accusing Khaleda Zia of supporting war criminals.
On January 25, 2017, AB Siddique filed a defamation case accusing Khaleda Zia of slander regarding Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman and the Awami League.
The case also mentions that in a speech as the chief guest at the anniversary celebration of the Chhatra Dal at the Engineering Institute on December 31, 2016, BNP Chairperson Khaleda Zia said that Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman did not want Bangladesh’s independence but aspired to become the prime minister of Pakistan.
General Ziaur Rahman’s declaration of independence spurred the people to war. The Awami League government is being accused of corruption and plunder in the name of development. The complaint alleges that her statement was defamatory.
On January 5, 2016, AB Siddique filed one case against Khaleda Zia and BNP leader Gayeshwar Chandra Roy for derogatory comments about the martyrs and martyred intellectuals of the Liberation War.
On November 3, 2016, BNP Chairperson Khaleda Zia was accused in another defamation and threat of murder case filed by AB Siddique, president of Bangladesh Jananetri Parishad.
Agencies