Infamous Dhaka jail used for trial of ex-PM Zia

DHAKA: The Bangladesh government on Wednesday turned a notorious jail into a courtroom to try ailing opposition leader Khaleda Zia on corruption charges. The 73-year-old former prime minister, already serving a five-year term in Dhaka Central Jail, was brought into the temporary courtroom in a wheelchair insisting she would not get a fair hearing, reports said. “I know I won’t get justice.

You can rule whatever you like. I am extremely ill. My hand and a leg are becoming paralysed,” she told the court, according to the ntvbd.com news portal. “You can punish me however you want,” the head of the Bangladesh Nationalist Party added. Zia’s lawyers have condemned the decision to use the jail, where she is the only inmate, into a court. They have said they will seek a ruling from a higher court to get the move overturned. Zia was granted bail in a corruption case in May but remains in jail while she fights dozens of other violence and graft charges.