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A Dhaka court has ordered the trial of Tarique Rahman, acting chairman of the BNP, and his wife Zubaida Rahman in a case over illicit wealth accumulation.
On Thursday, Dhaka Metropolitan Senior Special Judge Md Asaduzzaman indicted the two and set May 16 for the start of testimony from witnesses.
Though Tarique and Zubaida have been named as fugitives, they petitioned to appoint legal counsels.
The court turned down the plea and started hearing the indictment, reports bdnews24.com.
The case against the son of former Prime Minister Khaleda Zia and his wife was filed during the rule of the army-backed caretaker government. Tarique was arrested and imprisoned for one and a half years before he was released on bail.
While on bail, Tarique travelled to the United Kingdom with his family and never returned home. He became a senior vice chairman of the BNP while living abroad and still serves as acting chairman of the party.
Verdicts on four cases against Tarique have been delivered already. He has been sentenced to two years in jail on a case over making derogatory remarks about Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman, seven years in jail in a money laundering case, ten years in jail in the Zia Orphanage Trust graft case, and life imprisonment in the August 21 grenade attack case.
Zubaida, a physician by training, joined the government health services before she was sacked in 2014 as she did not rejoin her workplace after taking a leave.
The Anti-Corruption Commission filed the case at Dhaka’s Kafrul Police Station in 2007, accusing the couple of owning Tk 48.15 million beyond known sources of income, hiding information on assets, and acquiring assets beyond their means.
Tarique's mother-in-law Iqbal Mand Banu was named as the third suspect in the case. Her name was later dropped from the case after it was moved to the High Court.
Zubaida also appealed for a dismissal of the case after she was indicted. The High Court issued a rule to halt the case procedures following her appeal. Later, the Appellate Division upheld the High Court rule.
The High Court turned down the appeal to dismiss the case on Apr 12, 2017, following the final hearing.
Zubaida appealed against the High Court order. An appellate bench headed by Chief Justice Hasan Foez Siddique rejected her plea, upholding the High Court order. The case then went back to the trial court.