Dhaka, Nov 1: A sedition complaint was Wednesday filed against Bangladesh’s former prime minister Khaleda Zia for allegedly holding a “secret meeting” with Pakistan’s spy agency ISI during her recent stay in the UK.
Mashiur Rahman, a lawyer and supporter of the ruling Awami League, filed the plea with the Chief Metropolitan Magistrate (CMM) Court here, seeking a sedition suit against Opposition leader Zia and issuance of arrest warrant against her.
“He (petitioner) filed the petition but the magistrate kept it aside saying he will see the matter later,” an official of the Metropolitan Magistrate Court said.
The petitioner, who is the chairman of a foundation named after Bangladesh’s founder Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman, accused Zia of hold a “secret meeting” with Inter Services Intelligence (ISI) officials during her three-month long stay in Britain.
Legal experts said one could bring sedition or treason charges against anyone but the Bangladesh law requires them to be referred to the government for subsequent legal procedures.
Zia returned home last month from London where she had gone on July 15 for medical treatment and to spend time with her elder son and senior vice chairman of Bangladesh Nationalist Party Tarique Rahman.
Rahman has been declared “fugitive” by several courts in Dhaka for failure to appear in several graft and criminal charges.
According to local media reports, Rahman has accused Khaleda of holding the meeting to create “instability in Bangladesh and instigate a state of war between Bangladesh and India”.(PTI)
