After one year of exercise, a Bangladesh court has formally charged former Bangladesh Prime Minister Begum Sheikh Hasina Wajed with the charges of extortion during her regime. Court has also fixed the charges to two other family members of Hasina, Sheikh Selim, former minister and cousin of Sheikh Hasina and Hasina's only sister Sheikh Rehana with the same charges in the absentia of later one.
As per news come from several newspapers and agencies in Bangladesh, a Bangladesh Court has on Sunday framed the charges of extortion over Awami League Chief and Ex-Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina with her two relatives after several days of hearing and announced the trial proceeding begins from January 17, 2008.
The copy of the judgment would be reached within 60 days as per court official informed to media. The interim government has accused her for asking 3,00,000 Bangladeshi Takas ($440,000) to country’s big businessman Azam J Chowdhury during her term in 1996-2001 for permitting him to set up a power plant in the capital and also for threatening him to cancel the power project in terms of not fulfilling the demand.
"I never took a single penny in my life," said Hasina while appearing before the court with an emotionally choked voice denying all the charges are wrong. “I and my family members are completely innocent. The interim government is trying to prohibit me from contesting the parliamentary polls”, Hasina said further. She has also asked to conduct the general election within six months.
If the court found her guilty, she might go behind the bar for the long time, though she can appeal against the trail court’s decision into the upper court.
The second case of extortion is yet to be heard soon, as per news came from the court’s official.
The same charges of extortion has also been framed to cousin and former minister in her ruling Sheikh Selim and her sister Sheikh Rehana, who is still living in Britain.
The military backed interim government had arrested her on January last year by accusing her to be ‘corrupt’ person and took over the command from her. Later she was freed. The Court had also arrested several member of her family and her biggest archrival former Prime Minister Begum Khalida Zia.
After holding the command of Bangladesh, the chief of interim government Fakhruddin Ahmed had began drive of cleaning the nation from the ‘corruption and political dirtiness’ and arrested country’s almost all top leaders including two former Prime Minster of the Country and most popular leaders of the nation Begum Sheikh Hasina and Begum Khalida Zia. Some of them are still behind the bar from long time.
Fakhruddin Ahmed had promised to the country to restore the democracy ruling in the country by conducting general election before the end of 2008. But the detainee leaders have accused the interim government to not to conduct the election soon.
Hasina has appealed to her party members to launch a countrywide movement to conduct the election in March or April.
On the other hand, another former Prime Minister Begum Khalida Zia who is already captive of the interim government has also criticizing the ruling of army back government. The interim government had also arrested her with her two sons from her home in July 2007 before arresting her rival, Sheikh Hasina. Begum Khalida Zia is the chief of Bangladesh Nationalist Party and also facing the charges of corruption during her ruling period.
Marking the first anniversary of interim government Fakhruddin Ahmed said on a television interview “I would like to inform you clearly, no political party or force is our rival. We firmly believe, by the end of this year, we will be able to develop a pluralist system in the country which will reflect the hopes and aspirations of the 14 and half crore people of the country."
While the supporters of both the former prime ministers are accusing the interim government using its anti-corruption drive to try prevent the country's most popular leaders from standing for office again.
Sheikh Hasina had been arrested again in July16, 2007 and since then she was in a temporary sub jail at parliament complex.
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