Trial in case against Tarique, Zubaida starts

The court has framed charges against acting chairman of Bangladesh Nationalist Party Tarique Rahman and his wife Zubaida Rahman in the case of acquiring wealth outside known income sources.

Senior special judge of Dhaka metropolitan court Asaduzzaman rendered the order on Thursday.

Through this, the trial of this case began. The court has fixed 16 May as the date for taking deposition in the case. Anti-Corruption Commission (ACC) public prosecutor (PP) Mosharraf Hossain confirmed this to Prothom Alo.

On behalf of Tarique Rahman and Zubaida Rahman, an application was submitted to the court seeking permission to appoint a lawyer. Advocate Masud Ahmed Talukder filed the petition.

The court rejected the application on Thursday on the ground that the accused are absconding.

Earlier, on 5 January, the court ordered to confiscate the asset of Tarique Rahman and Zubaida Rahman. The court had issued an arrest warrant against them on 1 November last year.

According to lawyers and sources in court, the ACC filed a case against Tarique Rahman, Zubaida Rahman and her mother Syeda Iqbal Mand Banu on 26 September, 2007 at the capital's Kafrul police station on charges of concealing of wealth information and amassing of wealth beyond known sources of income. A charge sheet was filed against the three in court the following year.

Tarique Rahman, who was sentenced to prison for the grenade attack on the Awami League rally on 21 August and the corruption case, has been staying with his family in the UK for more than a decade.

The government has said at various times that initiatives are being taken to bring him back to the country. BNP leaders alleged that Tarique Rahman is being implicated in a 'false' case to keep him away from politics.