Khaleda accused of sedition over alleged meetings with ISI officials

BNP Chairperson Khaleda Zia has been accused of sedition for allegedly holding secret meetings with officials of Pakistan’s Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI) and fugitive war criminals of 1971 in London during her three-month stay. Pro-Awami League lawyer Moshiur Rahman Malek filed a complaint in this regard at the Dhaka Chief Metropolitan Magistrate’s Court on Wednesday. Advocate Malek, founder and chief of Bangabandhu Foundation, alleged that Khaleda held the late-night meetings with the ISI officials at a Taj Hotel in Westminster on July 17 and 18. Metropolitan Magistrate Abdullah Al Masud recorded the plaintiff's testimony and set November 9 to issue an order on the matter. Malek has also pleaded the court to issue an arrest warrant for Khaleda, who returned home on October 18 from the UK. The BNP chief's meetings could lead to instability in Bangladesh and degraded relations between Bangladesh and India, he alleged. After several media reports suggested that Khaleda had held such meetings with Pakistani intelligence officials, Malek claimed, Bangabandhu Foundation's London branch looked into the allegations and confirmed them. “During her time in London, Khaleda also held secret meetings with fugitive war criminals and others anti-state conspirators at different hotels in London. They conspired against the incumbent Bangladesh government and planned to assassinate Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina,” he said. The former prime minister had left Bangladesh on July 15 for London. She had stayed at her elder son Tarique Rahman's home in Westminster the next three months. Khaleda returned home last month after receiving medical treatment for her eyes and knees.