Khaleda Zia loses court fight to stop corruption case against her
Supreme Court rules against claims that a judge at a lower court was appointed illegally
Bangladesh's highest court has rejected appeals by opposition leader Khaleda Zia, clearing the way for her to stand trial on embezzlement charges that could see her jailed for life.
Zia, 69, twice former prime minister and leader of the Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP), went to the Supreme Court to seek a suspension of the proceedings, saying the lower court judge who has been hearing her cases was appointed illegally.
But a Supreme Court bench headed by Chief Justice Md Muzammel Hossain dismissed her appeals, allowing the trials to go ahead in a special court specialising in graft cases, her lawyer Sanaullah Miah said.
"We have not got justice," Miah said, adding Zia's trials in the graft court still could be delayed because the Supreme Court had not yet disposed of two more appeals against the charges. But Attorney General Mahbubey Alam said Zia's trial could go ahead despite the appeals.
"There is no bar for running Khaleda Zia's trial," he said, adding the appeals were aimed at delaying the proceedings.
Earlier, the High Court had rejected similar appeals by Zia, prompting her lawyers to move to the highest court in a last-ditch attempt to stop the trials.
Prosecutors have accused Zia's lawyers of time-wasting, saying hearings in the case have been delayed dozens of times.