Awami League chief and detained former Prime Minister Hasina Wajed has challenged the legality of the extortion case filed against her by the interim government. Hasina’s lawyers filed a petition signed by her in the Dhaka High Court yesterday. The court is expected to take up the petition today. “We have lots of grounds to challenge the government and we hope we will win,” Sahara Khatun, a lawyer for Hasina, told reporters before filing the petition.Hasina, leader of the Awami League, was arrested on July 16 and sent to a house converted into a prison inside Dhaka’s sprawling Parliament compound. Charges of extorting money from a businessman were formally filed against her a week later. “The court has accepted the petition, and it is likely to fix a time for hearing it soon,” a court registrar said. A senior police officer said yesterday “formal charges against Hasina will be filed soon for prosecution in another extortion case.” Police filed two cases against Hasina in June for extorting 80 million taka ($1.16 million) from two businessmen.
Meanwhile in response to HasinaÂ’s request the powerful anti-corruption commission has extended the deadline for submitting her wealth statement until end of the next week.