A Dhaka court on Thursday framed charges against BNP acting Chairman Tarique Rahman and his wife Zubaida Rahman in absentia in a graft case filed by the Anti-Corruption Commission (ACC) in 2007.
The charges were brought after the court dismissed a petition submitted by Tarique and his wife's lawyers seeking permission to defend them in their absence.
Both have been in London since 2008.
On November 1, 2022, the same court had issued arrest warrants against the couple after accepting charges brought against them.
In June 2022, the High Court declared Tarique and Zubaida “fugitives” and rejected their writ petitions challenging the filing of the graft case.
The case, which was filed against Tarique, his wife, and her mother Syeda Iqbal Mand Banu, alleges that they amassed assets worth Tk4.82 crore through illegal means and concealed information of Tk2.16 crore in their wealth statements.
However, the trial proceedings against Tarique's mother-in-law were rescinded.
Tarique was previously sentenced to life in jail in the August 21 grenade attack case and on different terms of punishment in two other cases, including the Zia Orphanage Trust graft case.
