Zia Charitable Trust corruption case

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The Zia Charitable Trust corruption case refers an ongoing corruption case in Bangladesh that relates to corruption over the misuse of funds in a charity named after former President Ziaur Rahman. Khaleda Zia, former Prime Minister of Bangladesh is one of the accused in the case. [1] [2]

Contents

Background

The trust was named after the husband of Khaleda Zia, former president, Ziaur Rahman. President Zia was assassinated in 1981. [3] The former Prime Minister Khaleda Zia has a "bitter" rivalry with the incumbent Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina. [4]

The Cases

Bangladesh Anti Corruption Commission filed the Zia Charitable Trust corruption case in Tejgaon Police Station on 8 August 2011. [5] The case accused four people including former Prime Minister Khaleda Zia. The other accused are Harris Chowdhury, former political secretary to Khaleda Zia, Ziaul Islam Munna, incumbent acting director of naval security and traffic in Bangladesh Inland Water Transport Authority, and the personal assistant to former mayor of Dhaka, Sadeque Hossain Khoka, Monirul Islam Khan. [6] The Anti Corruption commission filed another related case on 3 July 2008 over corruption in the Zia Orphanage. [7] There was six accused in this case including Former Prime Minister Khaleda Zia and her son Tarique Rahman. The case accused them embezzling 21 million taka from the trust. [8]

On 24 February 2015 an arrest warrant was issued by the court against Khaleda Zia in the case. [3] The arrest warrant was issued after she skipped a number of court dates. She surrendered to the court and received bail on 5 April 2015. The prosecution did not oppose her bail petition. [9] The Anti corruption commission took the charges to court on 16 January 2012. [10] Khaleda Zia has filled a petition with the High Court to halt the proceedings of the Zia trust and orphanage case. [11] Khaleda Zia and her son Tarique Rahman are on bail in the case. Tarique has been staying in London since 2008. [12]

After 10 years of ongoing trial On 8 February 2018 Khaleda Zia and Tarique Rahman as per court verdict, were jailed for 5 and 10 years respectively due to involvement in the Zia Charitable Trust corruption case. While Tarique was on exile, Khaleda would be imprisoned on old Dhaka Central Jail on Nazimuddin Road. In protest BNP held nationwide demonstrations, which were foiled by well prepared police force across the nation. A large number of BNP activists were arrested during clashes with the police. [13] The verdict also jailed Quazi Salimul Haq Kamal, Kamal Uddin Siddique, Mominur Rahman, and Sharfuddin Ahmed. [14]

On 29 October 2018 BNP Chairperson Khaleda Zia and three others including Harris Chowdhury, former political secretary to the then PM Khaleda as per supreme court verdict were sentenced to seven years’ rigorous imprisonment in Zia Charitable Trust corruption case. Khaleda and the other convicts were also fined Tk 10 lakh each, in default of which they will have to serve six more months in jail, according to the verdict. This is the highest punishment under the existing law. The court also ordered to attach in favour of the state the 42 kathas of land which was purchased under the name of the trust. [15]

Related Research Articles

Politics of Bangladesh takes place in a framework of a parliamentary representative democratic republic, whereby the Prime Minister of Bangladesh is the head of government, and of a multi-party system. Executive power is exercised by the government. Legislative power is vested in both the government and parliament. The Constitution of Bangladesh was written in 1972 and has undergone seventeen amendments.

Bangladesh Nationalist Party Centre-right political party in Bangladesh

The Bangladesh Nationalist Party is one of the major political parties of Bangladesh. It was founded on 1 September 1978 by former Bangladesh President Ziaur Rahman after the Presidential election of 1978, with a view to uniting the people with nationalist ideology of the country. Since then, the BNP won the second, fifth, sixth and eighth national elections and two Presidential elections in 1978 and 1981. The party also holds the record of being the largest opposition in the history of parliamentary elections of the country, with 116 seats in the seventh national election of June 1996. It has currently 9 MPs in parliament after 2018 national election.

Khaleda Zia Former prime minister of Bangladesh, chairperson of the Bangladesh Nationalist Party-BNP

Khaleda Zia is a Bangladeshi politician who served as the Prime Minister of Bangladesh from 1991 to 1996, and again from 2001 to 2006. She was the first woman in the country's history and second in the Muslim majority countries to head a democratic government as prime minister. She was the wife of a former President of Bangladesh Ziaur Rahman. She is the current chairperson and leader of the Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP) which was founded by Rahman in the late 1970s.

Sheikh Hasina Current Prime Minister of Bangladesh

Sheikh Hasina, also known by her married name Sheikh Hasina Wazed, is a Bangladeshi politician serving as the 11th Prime Minister of the government of the People's Republic of Bangladesh, having held the office since January 2009. Having previously served as Prime Minister for five years, she is the longest-serving Prime Minister in the history of Bangladesh.

Hussain Muhammad Ershad Former President of Bangladesh

Hussain Muhammad Ershad was a Bangladeshi Army Chief and politician who served as the President of Bangladesh from 1983 to 1990, a time many consider to have been a military dictatorship.

Tarique Rahman is a Bangladeshi politician who is the current acting chairman of Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP) since February 2018. He has been residing in London with his family since he left Bangladesh in September 2008.

Ilias Ali (Bangladeshi politician) Bangladeshi politician

Mohammad Ilias Ali was a Bangladeshi politician and member of the Jatiya Sangsad (2001–2006) representing the Sylhet-2 constituency. He served as the organising secretary of the Bangladesh Nationalist Party. He, along with his personal car driver, Ansar Ali, had gone missing on 18 April 2012. Later that day, local police recovered his abandoned car near his residence in Banani neighborhood and found Ansar's cellphone inside. They have not been seen since.

The 2004 Dhaka grenade attack took place at an anti-terrorism rally organised by Awami League on Bangabandhu Avenue on 21 August 2004. The attack left 24 dead and more than 300 injured. The attack was carried out at 5.22 PM after Sheikh Hasina the leader of opposition finished addressing a crowd of 20,000 people from the back of a truck. The attacks targeted Awami League president Sheikh Hasina. Hasina was injured in the attack.

Anti-Corruption Commission (Bangladesh)

Anti Corruption Commissionoften abbreviated:ACC was formed through an act promulgated on 23 February 2004 that came into force on 9 May 2004. Although initially, it could not make the desired impact, but immediately following its reconstitution in February 2007, the ACC began working with renewed vigor and impetus duly acceding to the United Nations' convention against corruption that was adopted by the General Assembly away back on 31 October 2003. Its framework and function is governed by Anti-Corruption Commission Act, 2004.

Lutfozzaman Babar Bangladeshi politician

Lutfozzaman Babar is a Bangladeshi politician who served as the Bangladeshi State Minister of Home Affairs in the Khaleda Zia Cabinet, as a member of the Bangladesh Nationalist Party. He is currently in prison for the death penalties in two cases – in January 2014 on charges of 2004 arms smuggling in Chittagong and in October 2018 for killing through criminal conspiracy at the 2004 Dhaka grenade attack.

Mohammad Mosaddak Ali Bangladeshi entrepreneur and politician (born 1960)

Mohammad Mosaddak Ali, also known as Phalu, is a Bangladeshi entrepreneur and a politician who was a former parliamentarian from Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP). He served as the political secretary to the Prime Minister of Bangladesh Begum Khaleda Zia between 2001 and 2004. He was responsible for building special relations and partnership for development between the government and the private sector that is interested in investing in new and highly potential industrial sectors, and introducing new products and services to local industries, at a time when Bangladesh's economic growth accelerated. In 2003, Ali launched Bangladesh's first automation-based private satellite television station NTV. He also founded another satellite channel RTV and Bengali daily newspaper Amar Desh. He is the founding President of Association of Television Channel Owners (ATCO).

Corruption in Bangladesh Institutional corruption in the country

Corruption in Bangladesh has been a continuing problem. According to all major ranking institutions, Bangladesh routinely finds itself among the most corrupt countries in the world.

Altaf Hossain Chowdhury Bangladeshi politician

Altaf Hossain Chowdhury is a former chief of Bangladesh Air Force and a Bangladesh Nationalist Party politician. He served as a minister of home affairs and commerce during 2001–2006. He was a Jatiya Sangsad member representing the Patuakhali-1 constituency in the same period.

Abul Harris Chowdhury is a Bangladesh Nationalist Party politician who served as the political secretary of the then Prime Minister Khaleda Zia. He is sentenced to 65 years in total and a life term in prison for committing multiple crimes. He had fled the country in 2007 and is a fugitive since then.

Saiful Islam Duke is a retired Lieutenant Commander of Bangladesh Navy. He is the nephew of former Prime Minister Khaleda Zia.

Giasuddin Al Mamun is a Bangladeshi businessman. He is a friend and business partner of the politician Tarique Rahman. Mamun has been in jail since 2007 due to his convictions on numerous corruption cases. He has been sentenced to 20 years imprisonment on 3 cases, 2 of which are for corruption. He is also accused in 20 other cases relating to extortion, corruption, illegal arms possession, and tax evasion.

Mir Mohammed Helal Uddin is a Bangladeshi politician. He is a Member of the National Executive Committee of the Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP) and a member of the Foreign Relations Committee of Bangladesh Nationalist Party-BNP. Uddin is also the joint Secretary of Bangladesh Nationalist Lawyers' Forum, Supreme Court wing. Uddin is a UK-trained Barrister-at-Law and heads a law firm based in Dhaka, The Lawyers’ Council. He is a member of the Dhaka Bar Association and an advocate of the Bangladesh Supreme Court. He is the son of BNP politician and at present BNP Vice-Chairman Mir Mohammad Nasiruddin. Uddin has been nominated by BNP from his home constituency, Chittagong-5, Hathazari-Bayejid in the National Parliament Elections held on December 30, 2019. He is popular in his constituency, especially among youth supporters of BNP in Chittagong, as well as other parts of Bangladesh.

M Shamsul Islam was a Bangladesh Nationalist Party politician, a diplomat and a Jatiya Sangsad member representing the Munshiganj-3 constituency for 4 terms. He served as the minister of information, land, commerce, food and post and telecommunications during the first (1991–1996) and second Khaleda cabinet (2001–2006).

Quazi Salimul Haq Kamal is a Bangladesh Nationalist Party politician and a former Jatiya Sangsad member from the Magura-2 constituency. He is the founder of GQ Group of Industries, a manufacturing based organization in Bangladesh. He has been imprisoned since February 2018 for a 10-year sentence in the Zia Charitable Trust corruption case.

Syed Iqbal Mand Banu is a social worker and mother-in-law of Tarique Rahman. She was awarded the Independence Day Award in 1995.

References

  1. ↑ "Khaleda's hearing deferred to 26 Jan". Prothom Alo. Retrieved 22 January 2017.
  2. ↑ "Court fixes Nov 24 to hear Khaleda's statement in Charitable Trust graft case". bdnews24.com. Retrieved 22 January 2017.
  3. 1 2 "Chaos Deepens in Bangladesh as Arrest Warrant Is Issued for Ex-Prime Minister". VICE News. Retrieved 22 January 2017.
  4. ↑ "Bangladesh opposition's Khaleda Zia to stand trial over corruption charges". The Guardian. Agence France-Presse. 19 March 2014. Retrieved 22 January 2017.
  5. ↑ "Former Bangladesh PM Khaleda Zia in court over two graft cases". India Live Today. 12 January 2017. Retrieved 22 January 2017.
  6. ↑ "Khaleda loses review appeal in HC to halt Zia Charitable Trust graft case proceedings". bdnews24.com. Retrieved 22 January 2017.
  7. ↑ "Zia Charitable Trust: HC rejects stay plea of Khaleda". The Daily Star. 13 January 2017. Retrieved 22 January 2017.
  8. ↑ "Bangladesh court adjourns Zia's graft case hearing till Jan 12". Zee News. 5 January 2017. Retrieved 22 January 2017.
  9. ↑ "Khaleda Zia surrenders in court, gets bail in graft cases". bdnews24.com. Retrieved 22 January 2017.
  10. ↑ "Bangladesh: Former PM Khaleda Zia appears before court in graft cases". The Indian Express. 12 January 2017. Retrieved 22 January 2017.
  11. ↑ "Zia Charitable Trust graft case: HC rejects stay plea of former B'desh PM". indialivetoday.com. India Live Today. 13 January 2017. Retrieved 22 January 2017.
  12. ↑ "Graft case: Khaleda, Tarique asked to appear before court". The Daily Star. 29 December 2016. Retrieved 22 January 2017.
  13. ↑ "Khaleda lands in jail for corruption". The Daily Star. 2018-02-08. Retrieved 2018-02-08.
  14. ↑ "Former Bangladesh PM Khaleda Zia found guilty in graft case" . Retrieved 2018-02-08.
  15. ↑ "Khaleda, 3 others get 7yrs' jail in Zia Charitable Trust graft case" . Retrieved 2018-10-29.
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