The Apex Court has dismissed BNP chief Khaleda Zia’s plea seeking to freeze the trial proceeding in the Zia Charitable Trust graft case making way for the trial court to announce its verdict in her absence.

The Appeal Bench led by Chief Justice Syed Mahmud Hossain passed the order on Monday (Oct 29).

AJ Mohammad Ali and Zainul Abedin moved for Khaleda while the State was represented by Attorney General Mahbubey Alam.

On Sept 20, Special Judge-5 Akhtaruzzaman ordered that there’s no barrier to proceed with trial in the Charitable Trust graft case in absence of Khaleda Zia.

The BNP chief’s counsels challenged this decision and moved the High Court seeking reversal of the lower court’s order. The High Court on Oct 14 dismissed the plea and Khaleda’s lawyers took their plea to the top court. 

The Anti-Corruption Commission had filed the Zia Charitable Trust graft case against the BNP Chief Khaleda Zia and three others with Tejgaon Police Station in Aug, 2011.

According to the case dossiers, the former prime minister and three others abused their power and raised funds from unknown sources for the trust.

The three others facing charges are Harris Chowdhury, political secretary to the then PM Khaleda, Ziaul Islam Munna, assistant private secretary (APS) to Harris, and Monirul Islam Khan, APS to former Dhaka City Mayor Sadeque Hossain Khoka.

A three-time premier Khaleda has been serving a five-year sentence since Feb 8 when she was convicted of embezzling foreign donations meant for the Zia Orphanage Trust.