Three-term PM of Bangla, widow of deceased dictator Ziaur Rahman, head of the Bangla Nationalist Party, an apparent magnet for corruption ...
has handed over the copy of a letter to a Dhaka court that he had received from Kuwaiti foreign ministry in 2016 regarding the donation made to Zia Orphanage Trust.
Advocate AJ Mohammad Ali delivered the document on Thursday while placing his closing argument in the Zia Orphanage Trust graft case at Dhaka Special Judge’s Court 5 in the capital’s Bakshibazar area.
As Judge Md Akhtaruzzaman of the makeshift court asked him whether the fund was deposited to the trust, to which Ali responded he had written to the Kuwaiti foreign ministry asking it to give him details about the grants provided and information related to it.
The ministry, in its reply, informed him that the then Kuwaiti Emir made a donation for the trust, and also to help preserve the memories of BNP founder Ziaur Rahman, the lawyer said.
In the letter, the ministry wrote that the trust was a private one and that the fund was sent to the trust through a Soddy Arabia
...a kingdom taking up the bulk of the Arabian peninsula. Its primary economic activity involves exporting oil and soaking Islamic rubes on the annual hajj pilgrimage. The country supports a large number of princes in whatcha might call princely splendor. When the oil runs out the rest of the world is going to kick sand in the Soddy national face...
n bank, he further said, adding, the copy of the letter was notarised in Dhaka.
Ali, the third defence lawyer to place closing argument, alleged that the case docket was prepared on fabricated and false information.
He also said the prosecution failed to produce any document related to the fund carrying Khaleda’s signature, before the court.
After the seventh day of closing argument by the defence, the court adjourned the hearing in the case till January 10 after Ali presented his argument between 11:55am and 3:10pm.
Earlier in the day, Khaleda appeared before the court around 11:50am, amid tight security.
The Anti-Corruption Commission had filed the case on July 3, 2008, accusing Khaleda, her son Tarique Rahman
...the elder son of former President of Bangladesh Ziaur Rahman Bir Uttam, and Khaleda Zia, former Prime Minister of Bangladesh. He is the Senior Vice Chairperson of Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP). His nickname is
Pino. There are allegations that Pino took a rakeoff from every foreign investment into the country while Mom was in office...
, and four others of embezzling more than Tk 2.1 crore through forming the trust.