BNP Chairperson Khaleda Zia did not appear before a Dhaka court yesterday as per its previous order in a sedition case filed over her comments on the number of martyrs during the Liberation War.
Accepting a time petition filed by Khaleda’s counsel in the case, Metropolitan Magistrate Muhammad Jakir Hossain Tipu set April 10 for her appearance.
Defence counsel Md Sanaullah Miah said: “Khaleda could not appear before the court today [yesterday] due to her illness. If the time is allowed, she can appear before it on the next scheduled date.”
On the other hand, complainant Momtaz Uddin Ahmad Mehedi appealed to the court to issue an arrest warrant against Khaleda for her non-appearance.
On January 25, the court summoned the BNP chief to appear before the court yesterday in connection with the sedition case.
The case was filed by Mehedi, a Supreme Court lawyer and also member of the ruling Awami League’s Central Committee.
According to the case, Khaleda at a programme on December 21 last year said that there were controversies over how many were martyred during the Liberation War. There are also many books and documents on the controversy.
“Without naming Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman, Khaleda also said he did not want independence. Rather, he wanted to become the prime minister of Pakistan,” the complainant alleged.
Two days after her comments, Mehedi, also a former secretary of the Supreme Court Bar Association, sent a legal notice to Khaleda, asking her to apologise to the nation within seven days for her remarks.
Later Mehedi sought the Home Ministry’s approval to lodge the sedition case. He got the permission on January 21.
Terming the case “politically motivated,” Sanaullah earlier claimed that it was filed to harass and malign Khaleda in order to implement the government’s ill intention.
BNP acting secretary general Mirza Fakhrul Islam Alamgir said that the sedition case was a mockery. This is done just out of political vengeance to remove the BNP chief from politics.
