B’desh govt plans anti-terror tribunal to try Zia

Bangladesh government is planning to form a special anti-terrorism tribunal to try former premier Khaleda Zia for allegedly instigating arson and bombing attacks that killed 134 people during anti-government protests earlier this year, Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina said on Wednesday.

In a question-answer session in parliament, Hasina said that she had given instructions for a fair and speedy trial of the cases against 69-year-old opposition BNP chief Zia.

Hasina said under section 27 of the Anti-Terrorism Act, 2009, there is a provision for forming special tribunals for disposal of such cases, the Daily Star reported.

All the arson attack cases will be handed over to the speedy trial tribunal, she said.

In the three-month long anti-government agitation by BNP-led 20-party alliance, 134 people were killed, 1,395 vehicles were vandalised and 13 attacks were carried out on trains.

Zia has been sued in five cases for instigating offenders to carry out arson attacks during the movement. Among the cases, three were filed in Dhaka.

BNP was virtually in a state of disarray since it boycotted last year’s elections but it waged a fierce campaign coinciding with the first anniversary of the controversial January 5 polls.

The BNP-led agitation was called to pressurise Hasina to resign and announce new elections.

But Hasina has rejected the demand and asked Zia to wait until 2019 for the next scheduled polls and prepare her party for the elections by “<g data-gr-id="23">wining</g> the peoples’ hearts”.